Announcing DeSmog's Koch Network Database

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
on

The Koch Network Database is a new resource libraryย built by DeSmog to assist journalists, academicย researchers, and the public to learn more about the backgrounds of individuals and organizationsย associated with billionaire fossil fuel industrialists Charles Koch and David Koch‘s free market approachย to a broad spectrum of civicย issues.ย 

Theย Koch Network Database willย chronicle the historical and present deeds and quotes associated with the people and organizations that have helped to advance the Kochs’ free market approach to environmental regulations, and the subsequent consequences of such approaches for climate change,ย public health, andย democracy.

The database launchย coincides with the KochDocs.orgย document archiveย launch, as Sharon Kelly covers in an important article about the Koch-led campaign to destroy the U.S. Department of Energy.ย 

It was 12 years ago that DeSmog first reportedย aboutย Koch Industries‘ campaign to confuse the public about climate science, in a 2007 article titled Why Exxon Makes Koch Giggle.

In theย years that followed, we have learned vast amounts about the orchestrated campaign to delayย climate action and attack climate science by a constellation of individuals and organizations that share affinity and often financial ties to the Koch family, ExxonMobil, the Mercers, and a range of other like-minded characters in the fossil fuel industries and right wingย politics.ย 

I first learned ofย the Koch name in 2002, when I came across their attempts to influence the makeup of the courts to skew further toward right-wing interests โ€”ย what they call โ€œjudicial reformโ€ โ€” and have remained interested in this line of research everย since.ย 

Please let DeSmog know if you have any additional information or documents that would complement our database, and of course, send us your thoughts about our work anyย time.ย 

As my father the librarian always reminds me, information isย power.

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
Brendan is Executive Director of DeSmog. He is also a freelance writer and researcher specializing in media, politics, climate change and energy. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Grist, The Washington Times and other outlets.

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