Charles and David, the third and fourth richest men in America, first gained notoriety in the fall, when a remarkable expose by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker showed how they'd funded not only the Tea Party but also the hydra-headed campaign to undermine the science of global warming, all in the service of even more profit for their oil and gas business.
But it was in Wisconsin that the down-and-dirty details of their operation began to emerge -- they'd not only funded the election campaigns of the governor and the new GOP legislature, but also an advertising effort attacking the state's teachers. They'd helped pay for buses to ferry in counter-protesters. We were even treated to the sight of new Governor Scott Walker fawning over them in what turned out to be a hoax phone call. The Kochs are right up there now with the great plutocrats of American history, a 21st century version of the robber barons.
The trouble is, they don't care. And they don't really have to care. Their business is privately held and answers to no one. Last week their spokesman said they would "not step back at all ... This is a big part of our life's work. We are not going to stop." So those of us who care about things like the climate will need to go on tracking them. But we'll also need to pay attention to their ideological twin, the Pepsi to their Koch. It's the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Unlike the Koch brothers, everyone's heard of them. That's because there's a chamber of commerce in almost every town in America -- they're the local barbers and florists and insurance guys, the folks who arrange the annual chili cook-off or the downtown Christmas lights. You know why Lindbergh's plane was called the "Spirit of St. Louis"? Because it was paid for by the by St. Louis Chamber of Commerce.
But that's not the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber is a hard-right ideological operation, which provides massive funding to conservative Republicans, including the new GOP majority in Wisconsin. If you want a sense of just how far right: Glenn Beck held a telethon on their behalf, and donated $10,000 of his money. "They are us," he said -- and an executive of the chamber called in to thank him. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent more money lobbying in 2009 than the next five biggest players combined; they spent more money on politics than either the Republican or Democratic National Committees. They're the biggest elephant in the jungle.
Despite their claim to represent three million American businesses, more than half their budget comes from just 16 companies. They don't have to identify them, but it's pretty easy to guess who they might be, since the chamber has devoted much of its time to thwarting any effort to control carbon emissions. For instance, they filed a brief with the EPA demanding they not fight global warming because "populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of behavioral, physiological, and technological adaptations."
And here's the thing: Unlike the Kochs, the Chamber has some real vulnerabilities. Though thanks to the Supreme Court they can keep their secret flow of money going, their credibility depends in part on the idea that they're representing all those millions of businesses. That's why we've launched a big nationwide campaign: "The U.S. Chamber Doesn't Speak for Me." Businesses big and small are already joining in -- a thousand in the first week -- making the case that in fact capitalism can adapt to new sources of energy. Capitalism's great virtue, after all, is supposed to be nimbleness and flexibility.
Those of us who work on climate change have spent years trying to figure out why Congress pays no attention to what's clearly the most dangerous issues the earth faces. For years we thought we simply needed to explain the crisis more skillfully. But in the last year the truth is becoming clearer: Hidden in the shadows are the guys with money who pull the strings. We need to illuminate those shadows, with the Kochs and even more with the U.S. Chamber.
Originally published at GreenBiz.com.
Photo by Steve Rhodes.
Follow Bill McKibben on Twitter: www.twitter.com/billmckibben
More and more people every day are waking up to these types of corporate manipulation and I have confidence they will pay for these actions eventually. As we speak they have big plans to steal away mid-western states valuable recources through sweetheart backroom negotiations with their newly elected lacky's.
The thing that I really dont understand is why they do not realize they are overplaying their hand? I find it hard to believe they think they can get away with this in the longrun. They read the papers. They know the people are going to revolt, its inevitable. So why continue tightening their squeeze? The only logical answer is they want a revolution.
Am I missing something?
And yes I do realize they have the profit motive but as he stated they are spending an awful lot of money to advance his lifes work as of late.
Two kinds of green here......Cash and the Planet.....ones seems to outwiegh the other...hypocrits...
Worse than taking money from corporations is the possibility that they accepted funds from foreign governments.
Like anybody who wants to influence political thought, the big interests have something to gain by hurting others. It's their livelihood, hurting others but appearing not to. Others have a livelihood justifying it as seen in the movie "Thank you for smoking."
Many Americans have not learned to think critically, so they accept half lies, out and out lies, damned lies, statistics, and pure drivel for the truth. It's easy because they have been told that courses that teach them to think more critically aren't pro-business, aren't going to help their careers. They're right too, sad to say.
This is one reason the Kochs attack education and disparage teachers. They not only don't need them, they know teachers are dangerous to the sort of useful ignorance they exploit.
These oligarchs fund the campaigns of the politicians and get most of them to ignore damage to the planet as much as possible.
Simply put, the politicians want to please their oligarch masters and that includes mostly ignoring global warming and other polluting trends.
It took you this long to figure that out?
Creating a plan B for how we produce and use energy is "smart."
Government should be jumpstarting the new clean energy economy.
The Kochs are huge donors to the NY Metropolitan Opera, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and many other apparently non political and worthy causes.
The thing that makes their behavior so disgusting to me, and many others, is that these guys are tied for #4 wealthiest individuals in the country, and it's not enough for them. They want it all, and if f there's nothing left for us peasants, well that's just tough luck.
I found the New Yorker piece about them to be very interesting and well worth the long read.
History may provide additional clues.
Truth is mother earth is now beginning to react to increasing levels of CO2- as it has done all throughout it its geologic history. If the past geology of warming follows its predictable path- we will be looking at a whole new planet as early as 2050- and what is left of civilization will begin to live in fringe areas of the northern hemisphere least affected by climate change- I wonder then if there will be a Chamber of Commerce left.