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   XPost: alt.politics.trump   
   From: nonex@nowhere.com   
      
   >Well, maybe not 100% funded by kiddy porn.   
   >   
   >   
   >IRS responds to Greenpeace call to investigate Koch   
   >brothers' tax- deductible climate denial.   
   >   
   >Why do the oil and gas billionaire Koch brothers get a tax   
   >break for funding climate change science denial? The IRS is   
   >finally investigating a Greenpeace complaint on the matter.   
   >   
   >Earlier this year, the New York Times exposed the secret   
   >relationships between a well known climate change denier and   
   >the fossil fuel industry. The Times revealed that Dr. Willie   
   >Soon had been paid over 1.6 million dollars to create   
   >scientifically dubious studies absolving the fossil fuel   
   >industry of any responsibility for climate change. His   
   >funders included ExxonMobil, the Koch brothers, and Southern   
   >Company, a large coal-fired utility.   
   >   
   >Willie Soon is a rare and valuable tool for the fossil fuel   
   >industry because he is one of the very few climate deniers   
   >with an actual background in science. Billed as a regular   
   >academic who just happened to disagree with 97% of actual   
   >climate scientists, Soon's work is omnipresent in Congress   
   >and state legislatures, and wherever there else there is a   
   >"debate" on climate change.   
   >   
   >While Soon had long been known to be on the payroll of major   
   >polluters, new documents discovered through investigations   
   >by Greenpeace showed that Soon's work to obscure the facts   
   >on climate change were promised as "deliverables" to his   
   >corporate funders.   
   >   
   >The documents also revealed a potential bombshell - the tax   
   >exempt "charity" Charles G Koch Foundation was paying for   
   >Dr. Soon's lobbying against renewable energy and climate   
   >change solutions. This means that the Kochs, heirs to an oil   
   >and gas fortune that tops $80 billion, could write the   
   >funding of Willie Soon off on their taxes. This potentially   
   >violates of the IRS rule that prohibits tax-exempt   
   >organizations like the Charles G Koch Foundation from   
   >attempting to influence legislation.   
   >   
   >Willie Soon cartoon Tom Avila Willie Soon   
   >   
   >Last week, the IRS responded to a letter from Greenpeace   
   >that pointed out this potentially illegal lobbying by the   
   >Koch brothers. The IRS letter declined to confirm whether   
   >the agency would take action on our complaint, but the   
   >letter did encourage Greenpeace to submit additional   
   >information to the IRS Dallas office. An IRS staff member   
   >also confirmed they were reviewing the complaint.   
   >   
   >The complaint, sent in February, is based on documents   
   >obtained from a Greenpeace records request, which contained   
   >details of Soon's interactions with the Koch brothers. These   
   >included evidence that Soon received $230,000 in funding   
   >from the Charles G Koch Foundation to create papers that   
   >question the existence of climate change.   
   >   
   >In his proposals to the Kochs, Soon claimed his work to   
   >obscure the cause and existence of climate change would be   
   >used for "informing public policy," a euphemism for   
   >lobbying.   
   >   
   >True to his word, Soon used his Koch-funded papers denying   
   >climate change while testifying in Kansas against renewable   
   >energy legislation. Soon showed slides of his Koch funded   
   >research to Kansas legislators in an attempt to get them to   
   >vote down renewable energy standards.   
   >   
   >Soon's research was also used in Congressional testimony to   
   >"question the belief that greenhouse gases are the dominant   
   >cause of observed climate change." Soon quickly sent a   
   >letter bragging about this Congressional testimony to the   
   >Charles G Koch Foundation. The letter, which asked for a   
   >funding extension, touted the testimony as "progress"   
   >towards the Charles Koch Foundation's project. In the   
   >Congressional testimony based on Soon's research, there is   
   >no mention of Koch or any fossil funding.   
   >   
   >Interestingly, The Charles G Koch Foundation knew that   
   >funding Dr. Soon's work was a legally risky move. In letters   
   >to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Dr. Soon's   
   >employer, the Koch Foundation was very careful to stress   
   >that the Koch grant "will not be used to influence   
   >legislation." The Koch brothers have contributed 79 million   
   >dollars to climate change science denial organizations since   
   >1997.   
   >   
   >The Charles G Koch Foundation is named for the co-owner and   
   >chief executive of Koch Industries. Charles Koch and his   
   >brother David, known as the Koch brothers, have used their   
   >vast fortunes ($40 billion a piece) to gain huge and   
   >disproportionate political influence in the US. The Koch's,   
   >through their network of front groups, have pledged to spend   
   >nearly $1 billion dollars on the upcoming presidential   
   >election.   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)