Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumShocked, Shocked! Same Think Tanks That Took Fossil Money For Climate Lies Now Pushing COVID Lies
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In Wisconsin, where people have protested against a stay-at-home order, the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) filed an amicus brief with the state supreme court challenging the authority of the governor and the health department to continue to require people to stay home without sign-off from the Republican-controlled legislature. The court last week struck down the states order, calling it a vast seizure of power.
Charles Koch, the 20th-richest billionaire in the world, runs Koch Industries, which is involved in oil operations and energy-intensive industries. He and his late brother, David, have funded a network of conservative thinktanks. Phil Kerpen, a Koch political operative, has argued that lockdowns are unscientific, and medieval and dont save lives. Kerpen is president of American Commitment, a group that through 2016 has received at least $6.9m from Freedom Partners, which is partially funded by the Kochs, according to DeSmog. He was previously vice-president of AFP until 2012.
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The Washington Post has reported that the Convention of States, a project launched in 2015 with money from the family foundation of the billionaire Republican donor Robert Mercer, has helped to coordinate activism against the stay-at-home orders around the country. The conservative thinktank the Manhattan Institute which over the years has taken at least $1m from ExxonMobil through 2018, according to the environment group Greenpeace USA, as well as $3.2m from Koch foundations and $2.2m from the Mercer Family Foundation has published commentary questioning the value of shutdowns.
The Daily Caller, a news organization that has received $3.5m through 2017 from Koch foundations through its non-profit, has run articles suggesting Democrats want to kill the economy to keep Trump from getting re-elected. The mainstream media, which works for the Democrat party, wanted us shut down more, and for longer, said opinion contributor Ron Hart.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/21/groups-fossil-fuel-funding-urge-states-reopen-amid-pandemic
NoMoreRepugs
(9,472 posts)CanonRay
(14,119 posts)built libraries, funded science research, funded historical research and archaeological digs. Now they fund shit to fuck people up.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)My daughter had to read it for a Philosophy of Science class. I also read it. It is a great read.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchants_of_Doubt