“I’ve never been to a tea-party event,” pollution billionaire David Koch told New York magazine in July, 2010. “No one representing the tea party has ever even approached me.” Koch’s corporate public relations officials declared in April 2010 that “no funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch foundations, Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea parties.”
However, in October, 2009, Koch was applauding his army of Astroturf tea party organizers. Brad Johnson has the story and the video that refutes Koch’s claim he isn’t the marionette.
Koch, who founded Americans for Prosperity with his brother David, was the guest of honor at AFP’s annual Defending the American Dream Summit. Independent filmmaker Taki Oldham filmed Koch beaming as organizers who run AFP’s 25 state-level outposts touted their success in mobilizing dozens of tea party events across the nation:
AFP CALIFORNIA: We helped organize huge tea parties all throughout the state. And on April 15, Tax Day, over 10,000 Californians joined us on the steps of the state capital and we held one of the largest tea parties in the country. . . .
AFP MICHIGAN: “¦ We have held the largest tea party in the state “¦
AFP GEORGIA: “¦ the largest Tax Day tea party in the nation on April 15 “¦
AFP OKLAHOMA: “¦ we’ve held 29 tea parties “¦
AFP MARYLAND: “¦ we organized dozens of tea parties “¦
DAVID KOCH: This is a phenomenal success in my judgment. Eight hundred thousand activists from nothing five years ago. This is a remarkable achievement. And we’re being effective in so many ways.
Watch it:
Oldham’s documentary, (Astro)Turf Wars, reveals that David Koch’s tea party army has demonized health care and climate legislation by stoking false fears of their costs and lying about the science of global warming. AFP, the Guardian explains, “has spun off other organizations such as November is Coming, Hands Off My Healthcare, and the Institute of Liberty, which are buying up television ads and holding rallies across the country in an attempt to defeat Democrats.”
One particular focus of Koch’s efforts this November is California’s Proposition 23, which would kill the state’s landmark global warming law. The Koch brothers’ corporation gave $1 million to the Prop 23 campaign, while AFP California attempts to stoke grassroots support, and Koch-funded think tanks attack climate policy.
(Astro)Turf Wars explains in detail how the Koch brothers and other right-wing plutocrats have succeeded in mobilizing millions of grassroots conservatives to support their pollution-for-profit agenda, at the price of the nation’s health and security.
(HT Kevin Grandia)
– Brad Johnson in a Wonkroom cross post.
Related Posts:
- New Yorker exposes Koch brothers along with their greenwashing and whitewashing Smithsonian exhibit
- The coming climate election: Tea party extremists backed by Big Oil and corporate polluters want to stop and then reverse all efforts to advance clean energy or avoid catastrophic global warming
- Why the victory of the Tea Party extremists (backed by Big Oil) over the slightly less extreme GOP establishment (also backed by Big Oil) is good for progressives, but bad for climate and clean energy
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
My hat has radiant barrier paint to the top side.
It works nicely to keep the excess heat away.
Not to stiff so it still has some flop to it.
It is good to expose Kock et al, but we still have to deal with the psychological/cultural phenomena of people wanting to be lied to. If the plain girl finds out her boyfriend lied when he said she was beautiful, she might love him all the more.
“Pollution-for-profit agenda:” Perhaps “P Party” would be a more appropriate name.
Nice one Leif but I would suggest that pollution x profit = p squared i.e perhaps the “P Squared Party”.
It is clear that the lying and cheating is not a product of climate scientists, I doubt the likes of the Kochs could pee straight!
My congressman Paul Broun was up in West Virginia supporting Republican David McKinley. But Broun won’t debate his local challenger Russell Edwards.
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/101410/opi_720231666.shtml
‘In terms of why the upcoming election is so important, Broun said, “We need to stop this steamroller of socialism that is being driven by (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi and (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid and is being fueled by (President) Barack Obama.”‘
http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/547681/Broun–Local-Race-Is-Vital.html?nav=515
Thanks, Catman. Steamroller of Socialism refers to a place on the political spectrum about where Richard Nixon was.
#2 Comment
That is the great conundrum. How does one push a science based public policy in a country where the popular culture is hostile to science, open to believing thee most ridiculous conspiracy claims and whose interest is primarily on the ephemeral e.g. Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton? What we are seeing in the US is an ever increasing dumbing down of the ability of most Americans to think and discuss serious public policy issues.
What has emerged in the political culture as well as the popular culture are impermeable barriers in which facts just bounce off. That is why I have become quite pessimistic about the ability to change public policy in the next 10 to 20 years. After that even if we exceed I suspect that we will be so far down the road of greenhouse gas emissions that it simply won’t matter since the positive feedbacks e.g. melting tundra, reduced albedo from reduced Arctic ice cover will be so strong that what we do as a species will begin to pale in comparison.
Went on a web search to see if there are other
radiant barrier hats out there, but I only saw
mention of tin hats and my own references to
my own hat.
I thought some company would have made a good
hat to reflect infrared heat waves by now.
Well, anyway, yesterday I was out working in the
yard with my radiant barrier hat and it was still
cool to the touch after hours in the direct sun.
Keep cool.
Re: #7.
There is a lot of literature on communicating climate science. The psychology of denial is real. But maybe there ways to get around it. I am not saying I know the answer, but I am not throwing in the towel either.
Tea Party is bad for America funded by big money… Smile :-)
Historian Sean Wilentz, in a New Yorker article (Oct 18 issue, available this week on line), details the amazingly straight line from the John Birch Society to Glenn Beck and the Tea Party.
A large segment (propose your own percentage, and revise it after next month’s elections) of American politics is, in effect, in thrall to the Birchers. Younger folks may not get much out of that (a visit to Wikipedia is in order), but anyone who goes back to the 60′s will feel a shiver, and detect a sulfurous odor on the breeze. Pendulum swings in American politics are normal, but this threatens to go entirely off the rails, to mix a metaphor.
Mike wrote in comment 2:
I don’t entirely agree. Chances are it would be very difficult to change the minds of the people who are already tea party activists. Their minds are in no small part the product of decades of manipulation. The Kochs, Bradleys, Scaifes and others have been funding Libertarian organizations and propaganda since the 1970s as part of a culture war — and as having a ready-made astroturf army and means to defend cigarettes, CFCs, asbestos, dioxin, lead paint and leaded gasoline and a whole host of carcinogens and other products that cause health problems.
The good majority of Americans aren’t tea party activists and they aren’t ideological extremists, so pointing out that the organizations that are part of the astroturf movement are should give them cause for concern. Maybe even want to do something about it.
For those who are interested, here is a list in alphabetical order of 32 organizations involved in both the denial campaign surrounding tobacco and that surrounding Anthropogenic Global Warming. I also researched the organizations to see which would appear to be libertarian, including a source for each.
1. Acton Institute (Libertarian 1)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Acton_Institute
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=5
2. American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) (Libertarian 2)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=10
3. Alexis de Tocquerville Institute (Libertarian 3)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Alexis_de_Tocqueville_Institution
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=89
4. American Enterprise Institute (Libertarian 4)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Enterprise_Institute
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=9
5. Americans for Prosperity (Libertarian 5)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity
6. Atlas Economic Research Foundation (Libertarian 6)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Atlas_Economic_Research_Foundation
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=17
7. Burson-Marsteller (PR firm)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Burson-Marsteller
8. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_Against_Government_Waste
9. Cato Institute (Libertarian 7)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cato_Institute
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=21
10. Competitive Enterprise Institute (Libertarian 8 )
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CEI
Competitive Enterprise Institute And Global Warming
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Competitive_Enterprise_Institute/Competitive_Enterprise_Institute_And_Global_Warming
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=2
11. Consumer Alert (Libertarian 9)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Consumer_Alert
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=31
12. DCI Group (PR firm)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DCI_Group
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=143
13. European Science and Environment Forum (defunct)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=European_Science_and_Environment_Forum
14. Fraser Institute (Libertarian 10)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fraser_Institute
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=107
15. Frontiers of Freedom (Libertarian 11)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Frontiers_of_Freedom
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=35
16. George C. Marshall Institute (Libertarian 12)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_C._Marshall_Institute
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=36
17. Harvard Center for Risk Analysis
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Harvard_Center_for_Risk_Analysis
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Harvard_Center_for_Risk_Analysis_and_Big_Tobacco
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=40
18. Heartland Institute (Libertarian 13)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heartland_Institute
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=41
19. Heritage Foundation (Libertarian 14)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heritage_Foundation
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=42
20. Independent Institute (Libertarian 15)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Independent_Institute
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=46
21. International Center for a Scientific Ecology
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=International_Center_for_a_Scientific_Ecology
22. International Policy Network (Libertarian 16)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=International_Policy_Network
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=108
23. John Locke Foundation (Libertarian 17)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Locke_Foundation
24. Junk Science (Steven J. Milloy) (Libertarian 18)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=JunkScience.com
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=95
*
25. National Center for Public Policy Research
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Center_for_Public_Policy_Research
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=59
26. National Journalism Center
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Journalism_Center
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_National_Journalism_Center_and_Philip_Morris
27. National Legal Center for the Public Interest (NLCPI)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Legal_Center_for_the_Public_Interest
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=57
28. Pacific Research Institute (Libertarian 19)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pacific_Research_Institute
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=61
29. Reason Foundation (Libertarian 20)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reason_Foundation
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=63
30. Small Business Survival Committee
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Small_Business_Survival_Committee
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=98
31. The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC) (Libertarian 21)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Advancement_of_Sound_Science_Coalition
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=6
32. Washington Legal Foundation (Libertarian 22)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Washington_Legal_Foundation
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=69
*
Regarding the use of Libertarianism by industry, recently I wrote:
Incidentally, I believe that promoting religious extremism may serve much the same function — and it is worth noting that Richard Mellon Scaife was largely responsible for funding the Religious Right so that it would become a political force in US politics back during the 1980s.
JR, Hansen and the “Koch Kills” Climate Zombies made the Wonkette today!
posted with extra cool ad from the Oil Watchdog “Koch – Destroy!” playing in Times Square!
http://witsendnj.blogspot.com/2010/10/wonkette.html
re: #12 Timothy
yes, good list.
Almost all are included in Crescendo to Climategate Cacophony, with Table A.6.1 giving a matrix of funders versus organizations, with more on each organization in A.2, and connections with various individuals and activities.
For funm, here’s a Google Map that shows the names and locations of most. Odd how these (mostly) non-profit entities need to be near Washington’s K-Street.
#12 Timothy: Very good indeed!
On the Psychology of denial I just finished reading
“The psychology of global warming” by Newell and Pitman in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, August 1020.
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/2010BAMS2957.1 (down at the moment)
It does not have all the answers but it is well worth reading (when the AMS site comes back up!). It does not discuss political dynamics but does point out “research suggests that people can become ‘numbed’ by overuse of emotional appeals and that they can only worry about a limited set of issues.” I think the economic downturn is the biggest factor causing people to not want to think about global warming. We tend to get upset at the professional deniers, but if unemployment rate were 4% their impact would be much less. The ‘green jobs’ approach is likely helpful here, but it is obviously not enough.
John Mashey wrote in 14:
Obviously my project was a lot smaller, but it shows what you can put together given what has been made available on the web, e.g., exxonsecrets.org, sourcewatch.org, but I would also recommend tobaccodocuments.org as a means for finding out what organizations that were involved in the tobacco disinformation campaign were also into, and http://mediamattersaction.org/transparency/ for identifying who is funding what. Up to a point, at least — given the kind of laundering operations you’ve identified. And nndb.org is worth checking out. And here is another project of mine.
Timothy Chase and ‘another project’.
What a great UI for a knowledge base that can be both deep and broad. Much mental effort must go into organising the hierarchical structure of such a project.
Well conceived and well done, I have book marked it for future ref’.
That Monbiot article, ‘Worse than pollution: crazy ants, bird-eating mice and murdering mink’ raised a sense of deja vu here in southern England as about 15 years ago a group of ‘animal rights activists’ released large numbers of mink with the result that the water vole population is all but wiped out. What about the water vole’s rights you idiots!
This is what comes about when education causes knowledge to be restricted in scope and patchy at that.
remember – you cannot get people to change their minds just on evidence. 50% of US citizens don’t get evolution, despite 200 years of geological evidence. They can’t be bothered to think about complex scientific lines of deductive enqiry when someone can just give them a one-second soundbite.
You need to work at their level.
Call the Tea Party the OIL PARTY.
peter whitehead wrote in comment 18:
Do you mean the Texas Tea Party?
Did a quick check… In comment 12 I made available a list of 32 organizations I have found that were involved in both the disinformation campaigns surrounding global warming and tobacco – and identified those that appear to be libertarian (22 out of 32). I have now identified which have received funding from the Koch brothers — according to Media Transparency.
Of the original 32 organizations there are 14 that receive funding from the Koch brothers. They are:
Charles
1. Acton Institute (Libertarian 1)
Charles
2. American Legislative Exchange Council (Libertarian 2)
Charles
4. American Enterprise Institute (Libertarian 4)
`David
5. Americans for Prosperity (Libertarian 5)
Charles
6. Atlas Economic Research Foundation (Libertarian 6)
Charles
9. Cato Institute (Libertarian 7)
Charles
10. Competitive Enterprise Institute (Libertarian 8 )
Charles
14. Fraser Institute (Libertarian 10)
Charles
18. Heartland Institute (Libertarian 13)
Charles
19. Heritage Foundation (Libertarian 14)
David
20. Independent Institute (Libertarian 15)
Charles
23. John Locke Foundation (Libertarian 17)
Charles David
29. Reason Foundation (Libertarian 20)
Charles
32. Washington Legal Foundation (Libertarian 22)
Although the Koch brothers fund slightly less than 44% of the organizations involved in both disinformation campaigns, they fund nearly 64% of those that are libertarian and every one that they have given money to is libertarian.
“If we,re going to give a lot of money, we’ll make darn sure they spend it in a way that goes along with our intent.” – David Koch as quoted by http://www.polluterwatch.com/david-koch