Wednesday, December 7, 2016

The Koch brothers, Big Oil, and Texas utilities are already shaping Trump’s environmental agenda

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-transition-fueling-climate-change-514fd9f2c5c7#.txpj2cgmd
"A leaked 2010 list of donors to the the Texas Public Policy Foundation, reported by the Texas Observer, includes the tobacco industry, private prison corporations, and wealthy families who made their fortunes in fossil fuels. The most notable of these are, of course, Charles and David Koch, whose various organizations gave more than $220,000 to TPPF in 2010. The group also received funding that year directly from oil and gas companies, such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips, as well as local utility companies. More recently, the Conservative Transparency Project estimated that the Donors Capital Fund and Donors Trust, two well-known dark money donors, provide more than half of the group’s funding. In 2014 alone, Donors Trust gave more than half a million dollars to the 50-person organization. Donors Capital Fund gave another $226,000, according to analysis of data from TPPF’s nonprofit filings. Various Koch family foundations, Exxon Mobil, and other conservative donors have also been big supporters of the organization. TPPF is also tied to the likes of other familiar names in the Koch policy network, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the State Policy Network (which funneled another $89,400 to the group in 2014). TPPF was a top “Chair’s Level” sponsor at ALEC’s 2016 annual meeting (along with Exxon Mobil and other right-wing groups). TPPF is also a member of the State Policy Network, the Koch-funded network of more than 50 right-wing think tanks in states across the country."