Hill Heat: Charles Koch Affirms He's A Climate DenierScience Policy Legislation Actiontag:hillheat.org,2005:TypoTypo2015-04-27T13:31:25-04:00Brad Johnsonurn:uuid:3ae6d45e-8fd6-4ce0-a907-e540e57d09d52015-04-23T00:00:00-04:002015-04-27T13:31:25-04:00Charles Koch Affirms He's A Climate Denier<p><img src='/files/koch_brothers_funding_denial.JPG' alt='Koch' style='float:right;width:40%;margin-left:10px' />In an interview with <em><span class="caps">USA</span> Today</em>, petrochemical baron Charles Koch <a href='http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/23/charles-koch-interview-republican-president-primaries/25936305/'>reiterated his rejection</a> of the scientific consensus on industrial global warming.</p>
<p>“You can plausibly say that <span class="caps">CO2</span> has contributed” to the planet’s warming, he told <em><span class="caps">USA</span> Today</em> reporter Fredreka Schouten, but he sees “no evidence” to support “this theory that it’s going to be catastrophic.”</p>
<p>Koch may have been forced to admit that carbon-dioxide pollution is warming the planet by research he funded—the <a href='http://berkeleyearth.org/funders'>Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Study</a>, which <a href='http://berkeleyearth.org/summary-of-findings'>replicated</a> previous global temperature reconstructions.</p>
<p>In fact, the only scientifically plausible systematic explanation for the rapid and continuing warming of the planetary climate since 1950 is industrial greenhouse pollution. The world’s national scientific societies and the world’s practicing climate scientists are in overwhelming agreement that dangerous impacts of global warming are already being observed, and globally catastrophic impacts are inevitable if further carbon dioxide pollution is not curtailed.</p>
<p>The <a href='http://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/latest/adq'>$100 billion fortune</a> of the Koch brothers is built upon decades of greenhouse pollution. To protect their business, the Kochs have spent billions supporting a vast infrastructure of politicians and advocacy organizations to reject the science of climate change and prevent regulation of climate pollutants.</p>
<p><b><span class="caps">UPDATE</span></b>: Greenpeace’s Connor Gibson <a href='http://greenpeaceblogs.org/2015/04/27/charles-koch-learns-climate-science/'>has more</a>.</p><p><img src='/files/koch_brothers_funding_denial.JPG' alt='Koch' style='float:right;width:40%;margin-left:10px' />In an interview with <em><span class="caps">USA</span> Today</em>, petrochemical baron Charles Koch <a href='http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/23/charles-koch-interview-republican-president-primaries/25936305/'>reiterated his rejection</a> of the scientific consensus on industrial global warming.</p>
<p>“You can plausibly say that <span class="caps">CO2</span> has contributed” to the planet’s warming, he told <em><span class="caps">USA</span> Today</em> reporter Fredreka Schouten, but he sees “no evidence” to support “this theory that it’s going to be catastrophic.”</p>
<p>Koch may have been forced to admit that carbon-dioxide pollution is warming the planet by research he funded—the <a href='http://berkeleyearth.org/funders'>Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Study</a>, which <a href='http://berkeleyearth.org/summary-of-findings'>replicated</a> previous global temperature reconstructions.</p>
<p>In fact, the only scientifically plausible systematic explanation for the rapid and continuing warming of the planetary climate since 1950 is industrial greenhouse pollution. The world’s national scientific societies and the world’s practicing climate scientists are in overwhelming agreement that dangerous impacts of global warming are already being observed, and globally catastrophic impacts are inevitable if further carbon dioxide pollution is not curtailed.</p>
<p>The <a href='http://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/latest/adq'>$100 billion fortune</a> of the Koch brothers is built upon decades of greenhouse pollution. To protect their business, the Kochs have spent billions supporting a vast infrastructure of politicians and advocacy organizations to reject the science of climate change and prevent regulation of climate pollutants.</p>
<p><b><span class="caps">UPDATE</span></b>: Greenpeace’s Connor Gibson <a href='http://greenpeaceblogs.org/2015/04/27/charles-koch-learns-climate-science/'>has more</a>.</p>