A number of Koch groups just rallied behind a now-failed amendment from Arizona Senator Jeff Flake that would have “cut almost $69 million in funding from Corps of Engineers projects, such as building environmental restoration projects and dredging rivers and harbors.”
Flake touted that the amendment had the backing of a number of (unsurprisingly, right-wing) groups, including the Koch-linked or backed 60 Plus Association, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Competitive Enterprise Institute, FreedomWorks, National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, and Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
Here’s why the Kochs are so interested in stifling environmental infrastructure spending: they’re opposed to just about anything that will help to combat the effects of climate change. The Kochs have been staunch opponents of solar power and they’ve also been deeply involved in the fossil fuel industry’s war on efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Being the hypocrites they are, Charles and David Koch are all for “letting the free market pick the winners and losers,” but more than happy to lobby for stricter regulations on their competitors.
And there’s another reason for the Kochs’ opposition to environmental infrastructure building. The Corps of Engineers projects include the dredging of rivers and harbors, and other efforts that require increased scrutiny and monitoring of waterways — making it all the more difficult fort the Kochs to get away with their unapologetic polluting.
All that should come as no surprise. If the Kochs are involved, there’s something to be gained — some business interest at stake or some threat to their bottom line.