It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows them-- Charles and David Koch that is-- that they outspent Exxon Mobil by about three to one according to this Wiki article on them. This Wiki article credits them, and their notorious front groups (such as the Cato Institute among others), as spending $24.9 million compared to ExxonMobil's $8.9 million dollars!
They have fought to keep derivatives legal to trade-- you surely remember that derivatives were a HUGE part in this financial mess we are in right now-- at least I hope you do. In fact, they went so far as to oppose financial regulations on derivatives. Otherwise they have been involved in a nearly continuous battle with the EPA over their oil refineries, and pipelines, which have been involved in many oil spills over their (the pipeline's) lifetime.
And by the way, for some people who oppose the government rather stringently, they have no problem with taking money from the same! They have benefited from the federal government to the tune of about $100 million dollars just since 2000. And their political ramblings go on to support the likes of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. This unchecked aggression by these two must be exposed as far as I am concerned!
But I digress,in order to tell you more about what they are involved in either directly or indirectly by one of their many front groups.
They (Charles and David Koch) are the owners of the second largest privately held corporation in this country. If it were a publicly held company it would rank at 16th in the Fortune 500. And Charles Koch has said at least once about his company selling shares to the public, "literally over my dead body".
While it is okay to feel that way about owning your own company, it is not alright to do what their company, Koch Industries has done to its workers and the environment. And they are a multinational conglomerate business. In fact their French affiliate Koch-Glitsch received much trouble in a bribery scandal that they were involved in. In fact they were found to have violated bribery laws allegedly securing contracts in Algeria, Egypt, India, Morocco, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. Who is to say that they have not been involved in similar practices on this side of the ocean? To believe that they have done otherwise is simply naive in my opinion.
Their subsidaries include the likes of Georgia Pacific, Invista, Koch Pipeline Company, Flint Hill Resources LP, Koch Fertilizer LLC, and Koch Agriculture Company. I will tell you why this matters, have you ever used 'Brawny' paper towels or 'Angel Soft' toilet paper, then you were contributing to their wealth. Likewise if you are a farmer like most of my family is, there is a very good chance that you used their nitrogen or other fertilizer products. Invista is responsible for making all of that stainmaster carpet. There is a very good chance that you patronized their business if you have bought fuel in the last year, ala Koch Pipeline and Flint Hill Resources, which run a slew of refineries around the country.
While I have now told you mostly everything that they control, it should be obvious to you why they have been in near constant trouble with the EPA. From polluting the rivers with their waste waters from their Georgia Pacific business to majorily polluting our environment via their many refining businesses. These folks are why the electric car has not been allowed to take off. You see there is no money in the rechargeable battery business for them. Instead of embracing such technology, they have done quite the opposite opposing it all the way. And all of this is why I featured them on the Green Leaf Blog.
As I said they are doing quite the opposite-- by protecting their fifty year stake in the heavy oil. Oil which will be brought here by the way of the Koch-XL pipeline from Canada. Yes, they along with Speaker Boehner as well as many other prominent people in D.C. are one hundred percent behind the Keystone pipeline. They are all doing this because they have a financial stake in the Canadian heavy oil industry.
I will have to look into this further. RD
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