Message From the Editor

Lobbying by Koch Industries is up by nearly 20 percent compared to this time last year, hitting $9.1 million. What is this owner of oil refineries worried about?

The Green New Deal, clean car standards, and the electric car tax credit.

Lest you think it’s only Big Oil worried about policies addressing the climate crisis, Justin Mikulka reports this week on another major player recently revealed to be pushing denial and delay: the rail industry.

But do you know who’s fed up with these delays on climate action? Youth. Lee van der Voo reports from the latest youth climate trial in Oregon and paints the landscape for similar lawsuits in five other U.S. states.

Also, remember coal? Its promoters are now searching for new relevance in the name of mining so-called “critical minerals” from coal and its waste — ironically, for minerals they say can be used in solar and wind power.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected].

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

Koch Industries Ramps Up Lobbying Against Clean Car Policies

— By Dana Drugmand (4 min. read) —

Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in the United States, has significantly increased its lobbying spending this year, including efforts to influence policy on key climate and transportation issues and legislation.

Mandatory disclosure forms reveal that lobbying by Koch Industries is up by almost 20 percent compared to this time last year. According to the forms, Koch lobbying expenditures through the third quarter total $9.1 million, compared to $7.7 million through the third quarter of 2018. This increase comes after Democrats took control of the House, as the Green New Deal entered the political discourse, and while a number of clean transportation policies were considered by lawmakers.

New Paper Reveals Rail Industry Was Leader in Climate Denial Efforts

— By Justin Mikulka (7 min. read) —

A recent paper analyzing the major players in the organized efforts to attack climate change science and delay action had a surprising revelation — the biggest contributing industry/sector was not oil and gas but rail/steel/coal with the most active organization in the climate denial movement being the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

In the paper, Networks of Opposition: A Structural Analysis of U.S. Climate Change Countermovement Coalitions 1989-2015, author Robert Brulle, looks at “key political coalitions that worked to oppose climate action. In conjunction with their allied trade associations, these coalitions have served as a central coordination mechanism in efforts opposed to mandatory limits on carbon emissions.”

In Oregon and Five Other States, Youth Are Making Legal Cases for Climate Action

— By Lee van der Voo (5 min. read) —

The Oregon Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday, November 13 to decide the fate of one of a half dozen state-level climate lawsuits filed on behalf of American youth. The plaintiffs in the Oregon case, appealing a state appellate court decision in January, charge that the state has a public trust obligation to protect the atmosphere on behalf of future generations.

The case, Chernaik v. Brown, is being closely watched by legal, governmental, and advocacy interests from across the state, who have argued its merits and advocated for climate remedies on behalf of youth. In June, as previously, dozens of public agencies, advocacy groups, a regional chapter of the NAACP, and two local governments filed friend of the court briefs in support of the plaintiffs.

Creating a New Market for Coal in the Push to Mine ‘Critical Minerals’ for National Security

— By Laura Peterson (9 min. read) —

With the backing of the mining industry and anti-regulatory groups, the Trump administration has been seeking to expand mining on public lands and further loosen environmental rules under the banner of weaning the United States off importing minerals deemed “critical” to national security.

This move may have particular implications for the struggling U.S. coal industry and its promoters, which have begun rallying behind efforts to extract some of these so-called “critical minerals” from coal and its by-products.

Why the Climategate Hack was More Than An Attack on Science

— By Sophie Yeo (7 min. read) —

From its tense soundtrack and flickering images of suspicious-looking wires, you could mistake the BBC’s latest documentary on climate change for some kind of cyber spy thriller. And that’s kind of what it is.

The BBC documentary, Climategate: Science of a Scandal, begins with Michael Mann, a climatologist at Pennsylvania State University recounting how he opened a letter and unleashed wafts of white powder. “My first thought was: I may have been subject to a deadly substance, anthrax,” he says. “All because I decided to study applied math and physics, and move into climate science.”

Has Climate News Coverage Finally Turned a Corner?

— By Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope (6 min. read) —

This piece is published in partnership with Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 380 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.

Some good news, for a change, about climate change: When hundreds of newsrooms focus their attention on the climate crisis, all at the same time, the public conversation about the problem gets better: more prominent, more informative, more urgent.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow

Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1985 by David Rothbard and Craig Rucker to pursue a free-market approach to environmental issues. In 2009, CFACT hired Marc Morano, a former spokesman for notorious climate science denier Sen. James Inhofe, to run ClimateDepot.com. A 2016 CFACT document authored by Morano stated: “The scientific reality is that on virtually every claim — from A to Z — the promoters of manmade climate fears are falling short or going in the opposite direction.”
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database or our new Koch Network Database.