Koch Industries is trying to distract from the facts Greenpeace has raised in our new report “Toxic Koch: Keeping Americans at Risk of a Poison Gas Disaster” by focusing on the timing of the releaseofour reportwith aCenter for Public Integrityinvestigation.You can read the detailsat Politico, including thisinteresting statement froma Koch lawyer: “The fact that these reports were released at the same time and were much the same in substance suggests a greater level of coordination between the two groups than CPI now admits.”
Has it occurred to Koch Industries thatthe substance of the reports is similar because it is based on researchedfacts? We analyzed Koch Industries’ own reports to the Environmental Protection Agency, which show that its facilities put more than 4 million people at risk. We also looked at Koch Industries’ own lobbyingreports to the government, as well as campaign contributions to key lawmakers they reported to the Federal Election Commission, which show that Koch isleading industry efforts to kill comprehensive chemical security legislation. Our Toxic Koch report is based on officialdocuments from Koch itself, as required by law, and exposes Koch’s role in keeping Americans at risk of a poison gas disaster.
Maybe Koch prefers to operate without public scrutiny, but that’s notwhat communities at risk orpolicymakers need when deciding how best to protect Americans fromvulnerable chemical facilities.Meanwhile,Kochhas stillfailed to address the substance of our report, although they confirm that they do in fact oppose comprehensive legislation that would protect Americansfrom a chemical disaster.
Regardless of Koch’s PR Machine distractions, keylawmakers like Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) are facing scrutiny over their willingness to put the interests of Koch Industries over the safety of their own constituents. Stay tuned for more.
