Koch Brothers
Koch Industries spent 0.5m Euro lobbying EU on environmental protection
A notorious funder of climate sceptics in the US has spent at least 550,000 ( 390,908) lobbying the EU on environmental protections and energy issues over the past three years. An obscure entry on the EU s voluntary transparency register shows that up to 750,000 ( 533,049) may have been spent by Koch Industries, the largest private energy company in the US, on trying to influence EU policy.
State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax
Conservative groups across the US are planning a co-ordinated assault against public sector rights and services in the key areas of education, healthcare, income tax, workers' compensation and the environment, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal. The strategy for the state-level organisations, which describe themselves as "free-market thinktanks", includes proposals from six different states for cuts in public sector pensions, campaigns to reduce the wages of government workers and eliminate income taxes, school voucher schemes to counter public education, opposition to Medicaid, and a campaign against regional efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
Conservative thinktanks step up attacks against Obama’s clean energy strate
A network of ultra-conservative groups is ramping up an offensive on multiple fronts to turn the American public against wind farms and Barack Obama's energy agenda. A number of rightwing organisations, including Americans for Prosperity, which is funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, are attacking Obama for his support for solar and wind power. The American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), which also has financial links to the Kochs, has drafted bills to overturn state laws promoting wind energy.