Investigating Power
Over the past two years, Koch Industries and its astroturf political arm, Americans for Prosperity, have spent millions lobbying Congress to kill President Biden’s agenda, with the Inflation Reduction Act and its stalled predecessor, Build Back Better, among its top targets.
West Virginia’s Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R), a leading critic of investing that incorporates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, is considering a U.S. Senate rematch against incumbent Senator Joe Manchin (D) in 2024.
At last week’s States and Nation Policy Summit, the American Legislative Exchange Council doubled down on its latest strategy of protecting the fossil fuel industry by blacklisting “woke” companies that embrace climate protection goals.
The American Legislative Exchange Council meets this week in Washington, D.C., for its annual States and Nation Policy Summit at the four-star Grand Hyatt Washington, where rewriting the U.S. Constitution, “woke” capitalism, and protecting hate speech and misinformation are at the top of the agenda.
DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund, the favorite donor conduits of the Koch political network, distributed $123 million in grants in 2021 to right-wing advocacy groups, litigation centers, media outlets, climate deniers, extremists, pro-gun groups, and other tax-exempt organizations that make up America’s right-wing infrastructure, the latest tax filings from both groups detail.
The American Legislative Exchange Council has quietly uploaded a sweeping model bill to its website that would require states to blacklist companies that consider anything other than maximizing profits when making business decisions.
CMD guest contributor Alex Carlin reports on his observations at the United Nations climate conference.
Republican treasurers, auditors, and staff from 23 states will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13 to meet with corporate lobbyists and an array of right-wing groups during the Fall National Meeting of the State Financial Officers Foundation. Over the course of three days, they will discuss “the rising threat from China,” inflation, “true diversity,” and anti-ESG investing efforts.
Dozens of major U.S. companies committed to environmental, social, and governance principles donate money to a group of Republican attorneys general set on promoting fossil fuels and punishing companies like theirs that are trying to curtail their climate risks and divest from oil, gas, and coal.
Charles Koch’s massive influence network is undergoing yet another round of restructuring this year.