Alliance for Justice Report Pulls Back the Curtain on Koch Brothers' Support for Corporate Polluters

Washington, DC, June 17, 2011—Alliance for Justice today released a report looking at how money donated by the Koch brothers—"the billionaires behind the curtain"—indirectly supports the polluter defendants in one of the Supreme Court's biggest cases of the 2010-11 term, American Electric Power v. Connecticut. At stake in the case is the ability of states and private parties to sue the five largest U.S. emitters of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, to cap and reduce their global warming emissions. 

AFJ's analysis shows that the Kochs have financially supported, or have personal connections with, 16 institutions that are linked to eight of the amicus briefs filed in support of defendants. The five defendant utilities in the case together discharge 650 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is about 25 percent of the U.S. electric power sector's annual carbon dioxide emissions, and about 10 percent of overall U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from human activities. Koch Industries is itself one of the top-ten air polluters in the United States. 

» Click here to download the full report, “Billionaires Behind the Curtain: How the Koch Brothers’ Money Indirectly Supports Corporate Polluters in American Electric Power v. Connecticut”

» Click here to download a high-resolution graphic illustrating the Kochs’ connection to the amicus briefs