David Koch, one of the richest men in America and owner of the largest private energy company in the United States took to the stage over the Christmas holiday to receive praise for his $2.5 million sponsorship of the American Ballet Theatre's production of the Nutcracker... and a strange thing happened.
The oil tycoon was booed.
John Gapper on the Financial Times Business Blog has the story.
Gapper writes:
"... there were also boos from near where I sat in the balcony, followed by an angry debate in the row in front of me, with one of the booers declaring “he’s an evil man” and a couple next to her telling her to “shut up” and to leave the theatre. Mr Koch was venturing into the lion’s den in political terms, since Brooklyn is solidly liberal and Democrat, whereas he and his brother are right-wing libertarian and are alleged to have links to the Tea Party movement, which they deny.""Once Mr Koch had left the stage, the booing stopped and the ballet started."
In our report last year, Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine, Greenpeace outlined the millions of dollars that the Koch brothers have funneled into ideological and free-market activist organizations that have been fighting for more than a decade to confuse the scientific realities of climate and stall State and federal legislation to curb climate pollution.
The boos are rightfully earned.