July 12, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5011 The clerk will report the bill by title. COMMENDING THE TENNESSEE experienced its warmest June on record The senior assistant legislative clerk VALLEY AUTHORITY ON THE ever. Already this year there have been read as follows: 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNI- eight weather-related and climate-re- A bill (S. 2650) to amend the Internal Rev- FIED DEVELOPMENT OF THE lated disasters that each caused at enue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross in- TENNESSEE RIVER SYSTEM least $1 billion in damage. Globally, it come any prizes or awards won in competi- Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask was found that 2015 was the hottest tion in the Olympic Games or the year on record, and so far this year is Paralympic Games. unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. on track to beat last year. We can’t There being no objection, the Senate 528, submitted earlier today. even hold the record for a year—2016 proceeded to consider the bill. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The has been as hot as Pokemon GO—and Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask clerk will report the resolution by anyone watching the Senate floor to- unanimous consent that the bill be title. night who is younger than 31 has never read a third time and passed, the mo- The senior assistant legislative clerk experienced in their life a month where tion to reconsider be considered made read as follows: the temperature was below the 20th and laid upon the table, and that the century average. papers be held at the desk. A resolution (S. Res. 528) commending the That last happened in February of Tennessee Valley Authority on the 80th an- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without niversary of the unified development of the 1985. Ronald Reagan was starting his objection, it is so ordered. Tennessee River system. second term as President, and ‘‘Beverly The bill (S. 2650) was ordered to be There being no objection, the Senate Hills Cop’’ was the No. 1 film at the box engrossed for a third reading, was read proceeded to consider the resolution. office. If you went to the movies that the third time, and passed, as follows: Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask month, you probably saw a trailer for S. 2650 unanimous consent that the resolution what would be that summer’s block- buster, ‘‘Back to the Future.’’ Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- be agreed to, the preamble be agreed Well, that future is here. Tempera- resentatives of the United States of America in to, and the motions to reconsider be tures are increasing, sea levels are ris- Congress assembled, considered made and laid upon the ing, rainfall is more extreme, and the SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. table with no intervening action or de- oceans are more acidic. Why is that? It This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United bate. is mostly because of carbon dioxide States Appreciation for Olympians and The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without pollution that is released from the ex- Paralympians Act’’. objection, it is so ordered. traction and burning of fossil fuel. Vir- SEC. 2. OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC MEDALS AND The resolution (S. Res. 528) was USOC PRIZE MONEY EXCLUDED tually all climate scientists agree that agreed to. FROM GROSS INCOME. the climate is changing and that The preamble was agreed to. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 74 of the Internal human interference with the climate is Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding (The resolution, with its preamble, is now the driving force of that change. at the end the following new subsection: printed in today’s RECORD under ‘‘Sub- Thanks to excellent investigative re- ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION FOR OLYMPIC AND mitted Resolutions.’’) PARALYMPIC MEDALS AND PRIZES.—Gross in- porting at Inside Climate News and come shall not include the value of any f other news outlets, we now know that medal awarded in, or any prize money re- ORDERS FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY as far back as the 1970s, Exxon and the ceived from the United States Olympic Com- 13, 2016 other oil companies were following the mittee on account of, competition in the latest developments in climate science Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask Olympic Games or Paralympic Games.’’. and Exxon was undertaking its own re- (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment unanimous consent that when the Sen- search on the impact of carbon pollu- made by this section shall apply to prizes ate completes its business today, it ad- and awards received after December 31, 2015. tion on the climate. journ until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, The top leadership of Exxon was f July 13; that following the prayer and warned in July of 1977 by its senior sci- pledge, the morning hour be deemed NATIONAL LOBSTER DAY entist James Black: ‘‘In the first place expired, the Journal of proceedings be there is general scientific agreement Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask approved to date, and the time for the that the most likely manner in which unanimous consent that the Judiciary two leaders be reserved for their use mankind is influencing the global cli- Committee be discharged from further later in the day; further, that following mate is through carbon dioxide release consideration of S. Res. 513 and the leader remarks, the Senate resume from the burning of fossil fuels.’’ Senate proceed to its immediate con- consideration of the conference report That is from 1977 to Exxon from its sideration. to accompany S. 524, with the time own scientists. A year later in 1978, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without until 11 a.m. equally divided between that same scientist once again told objection, it is so ordered. the two leaders or their designees. senior management: ‘‘Present thinking The clerk will report the resolution The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without holds that man has a time window of 5 by title. objection, it is so ordered. to 10 years before the need for hard de- The senior assistant legislative clerk f cisions regarding changes in energy read as follows: ORDER FOR ADJOURNMENT strategies that might become critical.’’ A resolution (S. Res. 513) designating Sep- Ten years later in 1988, a memo laid tember 25, 2016 as ‘‘National Lobster Day.’’ Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, if there out Exxon’s position, which included There being no objection, the Senate is no further business to come before these three points: No. 1, emphasize the proceeded to consider the resolution. the Senate, I ask unanimous consent uncertainty in scientific conclusions Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I fur- that it stand adjourned under the pre- regarding the potential enhanced ther ask unanimous consent that the vious order, following the remarks of greenhouse gas effect; No. 2, urge a bal- resolution be agreed to, the preamble Senators MARKEY and WHITEHOUSE. anced scientific approach; and No. 3, be agreed to, and the motions to recon- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without resist the overstatement and sider be considered made and laid upon objection, it is so ordered. sensationalization of potential green- the table with no intervening action or The Senator from Massachusetts. house effects which could lead to eco- debate. f nomic development of nonfossil fuel re- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without sources. objection, it is so ordered. CLIMATE CHANGE Exxon knew full well back then the The resolution (S. Res. 513) was Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, it is impact of carbon dioxide on the cli- agreed to. summer. It is supposed to be hot, but if mate and what that could mean to The preamble was agreed to. last month felt hotter than past sum- their businesses. Exxon, the Koch (The resolution, with its preamble, is mers, you are right. Last week the Na- brothers, Peabody Energy, and other printed in the RECORD of June 28, 2016, tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Agen- individuals and businesses whose prof- under ‘‘Submitted Resolutions.’’) cy, or NOAA, said the United States its might suffer under rules to reduce

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 13, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G12JY6.077 S12JYPT1 emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with SENATE S5012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 12, 2016 carbon pollution have had a vested in- So while the scientific community was and Global Warming, in the House of terest in stopping climate action for sounding the alarm, it has now been re- Representatives, I heard Dr. Happer decades. vealed that Big Oil and fossil fuel com- use the theatrics of a CO2 meter as That is why Congress still hasn’t sent panies conspired to mute that alarm, proof that climate change doesn’t comprehensive climate legislation to and the Marshall Institute soon be- exist. He advocated for the government the President. More than 50 years ago, came a critical part of their climate to support an ‘‘alternative hypothesis’’ in a special message to Congress on denial web. and to support his alternative hypoth- pollution, President Lyndon Johnson Mind you, we are not talking about esis, which was nothing more than the noted that ‘‘the increase in carbon di- the original George C. Marshall. He denial of climate change. Just last oxide from the burning of fossil fuels would have had no part of this. This is year, while the climate talks in Paris has altered the composition of the just the absconding of his name and were underway, Dr. Happer testified be- global atmosphere.’’ Since then, the having it placed above an institute— fore the Senate Commerce Committee, scientific evidence and observation of the Marshall Institute—which is now continuing to spread doubt. But this climate changes already underway disseminating this bad science. That is past May, William Happer was a signa- have continued to mount. what has happened. tory on a misleading, full-page ad in But even as the science has become In 1989, this Marshall Institute pub- . The ad, placed by overwhelming, climate policies have lished a report on climate change cast- another thread in the web of deceit, the gotten trapped in a web of denial. Dur- ing doubt on the impact of carbon pol- Competitive Enterprise Institute, at- ing the last 2 days, we have heard lution and spinning a core component tacked the reasonable efforts of New many of my colleagues talk about the of the web of denial. As Washington in- York attorney general Eric many strands of this web of denial. siders, the institute’s report was read Schneiderman and a coalition of other Like a real spiderweb, it is hard to see by the White House, shared by media attorneys general united for clean this web unless the light catches it in outlets, and became a so-called side of power who are investigating more than just the right way. So this evening I a new public debate on climate change. 100 businesses, nonprofits, and private am going to shine a light on a few The Marshall Institute turned debating individuals to see if they misled the threads of this web. climate change into a game, and the public about climate change. At the heart of this web is denial. science became a political football. It But the Marshall Institute’s efforts That is where you find the George C. was exactly what they wanted. By di- alone were not enough. So they helped Marshall Institute, whose attacks on viding climate science into sides, pit- form the cynically named Global Cli- the science of the so-called nuclear ting each one against the other, they mate Coalition in 1989, shortly after winter consequence of nuclear war and had found a foothold for doubt and a the formation of the IPCC at the U.N. its opposition to the nuclear freeze reason to delay climate action. to fight climate change. movement expanded over the years to Still, the first Bush administration The Marshall Institute CEO, William include anti-climate change efforts. signed and the Senate ratified the his- O’Keefe, a former lobbyist for Exxon, The institute was named after the U.S. toric United Nations Framework Con- chaired the coalition that included Army Chief of Staff during World War vention on Climate Change in 1992. The members of manufacturing, auto- II who then became Secretary of State. goal of the treaty was to reduce atmos- motive, oil and gas, mining and chem- He helped to rebuild Europe and won pheric greenhouse gas emissions and ical industries, and the U.S. Chamber the Nobel Peace Prize for what is now prevent ‘‘dangerous anthropogenic in- of Commerce. They invested in denial called the Marshall Plan. Given Mar- terference with Earth’s climate sys- and delay to allow business as usual to shall’s view of the need to address hun- tem.’’ But it took another 23 years, continue. But climate science and ger, poverty, desperation, and chaos, it until 2015, for the countries of the international climate efforts continued seems likely that if he were alive world to agree on a global solution in to advance after the UN Framework today, he would agree that national se- Paris last December. Convention on Climate Change came curity experts see that climate change That 1989 Marshall Institute report, into force. is a security threat to the United funded by the fossil fuel industry, was Of course, the fossil fuel coalition’s States. Marshall himself would likely an especially sticky strand of this web concern continued to increase. As the support efforts like the Green Climate of denial. Since then, the tactic of cast- IPCC worked on its second report in Fund to ensure that the poorest coun- ing doubt on climate science has been the early 1990s, it decided to include a tries in the world have the resources used time and again by the Marshall chapter entitled Detection of Climate necessary to overcome the challenges Institute and other organizations to Change and Attribution of Causes. It climate change pose to their economic delay policies that could hurt the prof- became clear that the world’s climate development. He would likely support its of oil, coal, and petro-polluters like scientists were examining the consider- American leadership of global climate the Kochs. This is what Senator WHITE- able collection of climate observations efforts to ensure that all countries are HOUSE has led all of us in trying to and research to see what they could taking action to address climate bring out here to the Senate floor— say about human influence on the cli- change. that there is a web, and the web goes mate. But the institute that carries the back to money, and that money is the So the Global Climate Coalition George Marshall name has countered profits that are made by the coal, the sprang into action to influence what international climate science and ac- gas, and the oil industries. Those mil- the IPCC might say about the human tion every step of the way. When the lions of dollars that the Marshall Insti- influence on climate. Marshall Institute first expanded into tute has received from Exxon and the At a November 1995 session to final- environmental policy in the 1980s, the Koch-connected foundation over the ize the text of the IPCC report, along- environment and climate change had years have allowed the web of denial to side Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti rep- bipartisan support. In the 1988 election, grow. resentatives, the Global Climate Coali- George Herbert Walker Bush pledged to The Marshall Institute misinforma- tion weighed in heavily against the meet the ‘‘greenhouse effect with the tion campaign doesn’t just come in the chapter focused on the detection and White House effect.’’ Increasingly, form of reports. Their chairman, Wil- causes of climate change. After a flurry world scientists were raising concerns liam Happer, has testified in front of of negotiations and additional objec- about carbon pollution. In 1990, the Congress multiple times espousing cli- tions, the IPCC agreed that the first assessment report of the Intergov- mate denialism and perpetuating the amassed climate observations ‘‘now ernmental Panel on Climate Change, or self-serving interests of the fossil fuel point toward a discernable human in- IPCC, detailed what the fossil fuel industry and the Kochs. He may be an fluence on global climate.’’ companies already knew—that carbon accomplished physicist, but Dr. The world’s climate scientists, the pollution released from burning fossil Happer’s views on climate science have government representatives had now fuels was causing the Earth to warm. been routinely debunked. acknowledged that humans were alter- The very business model of the fossil When I was chairman on the Select ing the climate. So the calls for cli- fuel industry was altering the planet. Committee on Energy Independence mate action got louder, and the effort

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 13, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G12JY6.079 S12JYPT1 emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with SENATE July 12, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5013 to extend the 1992 United Nations have reduced the Federal deficit and This is the world that the Koch Framework Convention on Climate cost the average American household brothers have forgotten. Their mission Change and draft what would become less than 50 cents per day. An analysis has always been to create doubt across the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 increased. of the American Council for an Energy America on climate science. They fund But in an effort to silence the calls to Efficient Economy found that Ameri- attempts to counter the fact that cli- action, the investment in the web of cans would save about as much as mate change is a threat to our national denial grew. CBO’s cost estimates from energy effi- security and to our public health. The Global Climate Coalition spent ciency policies in the bill that CBO did Their funding attempts to counter the more than $13 million opposing the not take into account. fact that action to combat climate Kyoto Protocol. Between 1994 and 1997, With an outstretched arm to lift change is feasible and necessary and they spent $1 million every year them into the clean energy future, the will create American jobs. They fund downplaying the threat of climate bill included more than $200 million for the web of denial to serve their own in- change. the coal industry, $200 billion to cap- terests to make billions in profits at Ultimately, this broad coalition col- ture carbon and to sequester it. Seven the expense of America’s health, Amer- lapsed as their business interests and years ago, we gave the fossil fuel indus- ica’s safety. the impact of climate change on their try a choice: legislation or regulation. But for someone who is focused on profits changed. The Global Climate But Exxon opposed the bill. The Koch protecting the poor and the vulnerable Coalition closed its doors in 2002, but brothers opposed the bill. Peabody coal of this world—that person understands opposed the bill, except for the parts the web of denial was already stretch- the threat presented by climate that helped the coal industry. Rather ing to find new places to grow. Those change. I have in my hand Pope than change their current business threads have since expanded with the Francis’s encyclical on climate change, model, centered on pumping more CO careful cultivation and collusion by the 2 ‘‘Laudato si’,’’ subtitled ‘‘On the Care into the atmosphere, they fought at- fossil fuel industry and the petrol pol- for our Common Home.’’ The Pope is a tempts to change the law. Now, 7 years luters. chemistry teacher. That is what he did later, Peabody coal has filed for bank- We know that the Koch brothers, before he became Pope. When he came ruptcy. We are continuing to untangle Exxon, and other major donors have in- to Washington, DC, last year, he spoke vested millions of dollars into organi- the Koch brothers’ web of denial. The Koch brothers have lied to the to Congress and delivered his sermon zations that actively work to discredit American people for decades about cli- on the Hill. He said that the planet is climate change and oppose climate leg- mate change. They have also lied to dangerously warming and that the islation. Those organizations pressure their own employees. When Waxman- science is settled. He said that human elected officials to take increasingly Markey was being debated, the Koch beings are a significant contributor to extreme stances with specific reference Industries newsletter published an arti- the dangerous warming of the planet. and focus on the members of the Re- cle attacking the climate change legis- He said that since humans are contrib- publican Party. lation and encouraging employees to uting to the problem, we have a moral During President George W. Bush’s check out specific Web sites for more obligation to do something about it. first campaign in 2000, he promised to information. The listed Web sites were When the rest of the world looked up, fight climate change by limiting green- funded by the Koch brothers. They sent they saw red, white, and blue CO2. house gas emissions. But in 2001, he their employees to other parts of the Since the United States has histori- pulled the United States out of the web of denial. When a Republican tries cally been the largest contributor of Kyoto Protocol. In 2005, his Vice Presi- to stand up and publicly support cli- carbon pollution, we must be the leader dent, Dick Cheney, helped pass an en- mate action, the Koch brothers’ ‘‘spidy in working to reduce our own pollu- ergy bill that included massive sub- sense’’ goes off and their web of denial tion. sidies and tax breaks for the fossil fuel springs into action. They mobilize, As soon as the Pope spoke out urging industry. they target, they attack every Repub- action on climate change, the well- As recently as 2008, the Republican lican who stands against their business oiled climate denial machine shifted Presidential nominee, Senator JOHN plan. Koch money floods primary cam- into high gear. The for MCCAIN, recognized the science of cli- paigns to ensure that their self-serving the Study of Religion and Liberty is mate change and supported action. lies trump in every election. another strand of the web of denial. Be- This was an era that has now passed. The oil and coal industry will not tween 1990 and 2014, the Acton Institute The web of denial has firmly trapped stop their efforts because now the pre- received millions from or this issue in the Republican Party in sumptive nominee of the Republican , the Koch-funded such a way that no action is possible at Party is a climate denier. But their ob- ATM, as well as money all. But even in the face of the millions struction and climate denial tactics from the Koch families and from of dollars pumped into the denial ma- are as bogus as a degree from Trump Exxon. chine, the House of Representatives University. Trump says he wants an Reverend Sirico, the founder and was able to overcome it in 2009. ‘‘all of the above’’ energy agenda, but president of the Acton Institute, testi- The Waxman-Markey bill passed the we know he is really running on an ‘‘oil fied in front of the Senate Environ- House just over 7 years ago. It was the above all’’ platform. But the Koch ment and Public Works Committee only comprehensive climate change brothers are now bigger than the Re- just last year. Reverend Sirico claims legislation ever to pass a Chamber of publican Party. that the Catholic Church does not have Congress. It has been reported that the The Kochs have built upon the tac- expertise in science and should stick to oil and gas industry, including the tics practiced by the tobacco industry matters of faith and morals. Well, here Koch brothers and ExxonMobil, spent generations ago in its campaign to dis- is the irony. A lack of expertise surely $175 million and hired more than 800 credit the science linking smoking has not stopped Senate Republicans lobbyists in 2009 to kill the Waxman- with increased risks of lung cancer. from blocking any and all climate Markey bill. Let me give those num- The Kochs’ goal is to discredit the change legislation. bers again: $175 million and 800 lobby- science itself. How successful are they? Informed by the scientific evidence, ists to kill a bill that would have put a Donald Trump has said that if he is the Pope made a clear moral case to clamp on the increase in greenhouse President, he is going to abolish the act on climate and to act now. The gas emissions in the United States. Environmental Protection Agency of Pope’s comments came from the heart They saw any action on climate, es- the United States—abolish it. I guess and from his belief in our ability to act pecially legislation, as a threat to their he assumes that Americans think that collectively. It is just common sense bottom line. But Members of the House the air is too clean, the water is too that when you learn something is dan- knew better. They saw that Waxman- clean, the soil is too clean, the rivers gerous for you, for your health and for Markey was good for our environment, are too clean in the United States, and our Earth—and especially, as the Pope good for our economy, good for Amer- that we can afford to abolish the Envi- said to us, its impact on the poorest ica. A Congressional budget analysis ronmental Protection Agency of our people on our planet, those who will be found that Waxman-Markey would country. most severely harmed by climate

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 13, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G12JY6.080 S12JYPT1 emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with SENATE S5014 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 12, 2016 change—we have a moral obligation to Because even though billions of dollars In the last 10 years, we have seen a stop that harm. in Federal subsidies have benefited dramatic expansion of renewable en- There is no doubt that fossil fuels their companies for years and years, ergy in our country. Just as the Pil- forever changed our society, but point- they have never come up here to say: grims harnessed the wind to sail across ing to the benefits from them does not Oh, take them away. It makes my com- the ocean to Plymouth Rock, we too take away the harm they cause or the pany feel unclean. Oh no, they took can power our economy. Our current urgency to transition to clean energy those billions every single year. It is capacity is 74,000 megawatts of wind, now. Many of those who oppose action only when wind and solar step up and and we have 14,000 more megawatts of on climate invoke the importance of say: Well, how about us? We are clean. wind waiting now to be deployed in our preserving the free market. We don’t pollute. We are what the country. U.S. solar capacity is now As an example, consider the Lex- younger generation wants to see us in- more than 27,000 megawatts. Over 25 ington Institute, an organization fund- vesting in as the technologies of the percent of this capacity was added in ed by ExxonMobil and those pushing 21st century. Then they get morally of- 2015 alone. We are projected to double so-called free market solutions. The fended. Then their free market prin- that capacity by the end of this year. Lexington Institute—and may I add, ciples start to get offended. Megawatts are hard to understand. the Lexington Institute is in Virginia; So the Lexington Institute, citing Simply put, by the end of this year, we it is not in Lexington, MA, where the the free market, has fought the exten- should have enough wind and solar en- shot heard round the world was fired. sion of renewable tax credits for wind ergy to power over 25 million homes. No, this is just, again, absconding with and solar, but unlike the battle of Lex- That is one-fifth of all American a name and placing it upon an institu- ington that started the American Rev- homes. tion to try to give it the veneer of olution, this Lexington is trying to We must continue to untangle our- credibility. Of course, beneath the ve- stop a renewables revolution. Eco- selves from the Koch brothers’ web of neer is just more veneer. There is noth- nomic growth and climate action go to- denial sewn by lies and doubt. The ing. There is no science. There is noth- gether. We can have a country with science is overwhelming. Climate ing that backs up the arguments which clean air and water and clean energy change is real. Carbon pollution is ac- they are making. and a strong economy. History con- celerating the warming, and right now So the Lexington Institute claims tinues to prove that the benefits of en- American cities and towns are pre- that renewables need to be able to com- vironmental regulation are enormous paring for an uncertain future in a and beyond just financial. pete with fossil fuels without Federal world with a changing climate and ris- Recently, we have seen global eco- subsidies, but the real truth is, the fos- ing seas. While the Senate has yet to nomic growth hand in hand with no in- sil fuel industry has never succeeded in crease in energy-related carbon pollu- knock out all of these old cobwebs of the free market alone. Its success is tion. We are seeing GDP go up but not climate denial that are holding back built on more than a century’s worth of carbon pollution. And in Massachu- action, we know, if we focus on the fu- tax breaks and subsidies. setts, since the Regional Greenhouse ture, we cannot continue to have these The Lexington Institute sheds these Gas Initiative started in 2009—the real decisions of today be borne by genera- crocodile tears about how much they Lexington revolution, the one in Mas- tions yet to come. care about the free market, but for 100 sachusetts—we have seen powerplant We must focus on resiliency and years they missed the fact that the oil, greenhouse gas emissions go down 34 clean energy and what we are going to the coal, the gas, and the nuclear in- percent while Massachusetts’ gross do- do to leave the world better off for fu- dustries were all subsidized by the Fed- mestic product increased 25 percent. ture generations. No matter what lies eral Government. It is only when wind So we are left with a really simple and information the climate deniers and solar show up that all of a sudden question: Why do fossil fuel companies try to peddle, the facts are with us, the they become greatly concerned about continue to get Federal subsidies, but moral authority is with us, the eco- the fact the free market is being dis- we do not extend them to clean energy? nomic opportunities are with us. torted. Well, by giving tax breaks to The answer is this: Koch, Exxon, the We have a chance to create a clean wind and solar, of course, we are just Marshall Institute, the Global Climate energy revolution that increases jobs making it a level playing field so they Coalition, the Acton Institute, the Lex- as it cuts pollution. This is job cre- get the same kind of breaks all of these ington Institute, and their partners in ation that is good for all of creation. other industries have received for 100 the web of denial. Millions of dollars We must take the climate deniers and or more years. are spent to deceive and to mislead all their fossil fuel funders to task for The subsidies for the fossil fuel in- in the name of self-interest and profit. their obstinate, obdurate, oblivious op- dustry top more than $7.5 billion annu- The Global Climate Coalition col- position to the clean energy to battle ally. You got that? It is $7.5 billion per lapsed more than a decade ago. The climate change. year. These tax breaks go back 100 Marshall Institute broke up last year, Here is where we are. By the end of years. Multiply that by 100, and then and its climate denial arm morphed 2016, there will be 400,000 people em- the crocodile tears start getting shed ployed in the United States in the wind into the CO2 Coalition. Exxon is now over something we do for wind or solar publicizing their support for a carbon and solar industries and 65,000—65,000— or fuel cells, biomass, geothermal? tax that they began espousing in 2009. coal miners. By the year 2020, at the There is no need for fossil fuel CEOs The American Petroleum Institute is current pace, there will be 600,000 peo- to come to Congress to justify the sup- reportedly rethinking its messaging on ple employed in the wind and solar in- port for long-established subsidies, climate. The threads of the web of de- dustry. which they have always been getting. nial are breaking and weakening, and Half of all new electricity on the They do not even come up to defend it. the more light we shine on it—espe- planet last year came from renewable They get it automatically—the exten- cially light fueled by the power of the electricity. This is a revolution, and it sion of their tax breaks. The oil and Sun—the sooner it will fall apart. is a revolution we cannot allow to be gas industry have the Federal sub- We are in the midst of a clean energy derailed because we will be employing sidies, coal has Federal subsidies, nu- revolution. The United States has a people, giving them the jobs they want, clear has Federal subsidies. What has massive reserve of untapped renewable which will make it possible for us to happened every year, when we try to energy. Our reserves are so massive save this planet. extend subsidies for renewable energy— that just a small fraction could power I thank the Senator from Rhode Is- for wind and solar—for even just 1 our entire country. The question is no land for organizing all of the Members year, it is the end of the world as we longer if we can power our country over the last 2 days to come out on the know it in the capitalist system. with renewable energy, it is when and floor to make this case about this web Just last year, the Koch brothers it is how. We will make the transition of denial, which is at the core of what wrote a letter to every single Member to 100 percent renewable energy before has been blocking this Senate from of Congress urging them to oppose the the year 2050 if we keep the right poli- taking the actions necessary to deploy tax breaks for wind and solar, and of cies on the books, and I believe we are the technologies, to create the jobs course they cited ‘‘the free market.’’ going to meet that goal. which can save the planet by deploying

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 13, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00062 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G12JY6.081 S12JYPT1 emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with SENATE July 12, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5015 these technologies all across the plan- the Franklin Center’s budget had jumped to Oh, right, the Koch brothers. Over $6 et. $2.4 million, according to IRS tax records. million, or roughly 95 percent of the I thank the Senator from Rhode Is- That is a spectacular leap for a nonprofit, es- Franklin Center’s revenue that year land once again for his incredibly great pecially in Medora, North Dakota. It was al- came through this organization, whose most as if someone wished to utilize the and historic leadership, and I yield the charter concept of the Franklin Center, de- sole purpose is to hide the identity of floor. veloping individual but interlinked news the real donors. That is why it exists. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. centers across the United States that would According to data collected by the Con- FLAKE). The Senator from Rhode Is- all promote the same messages—for other servative Transparency Project, be- land. purposes and therefore infused it with a tween 2009 and 2014, the Franklin Cen- Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, it mountain of funding and network support. ter received over $31 million from is an honor for me to follow Senator Let’s dig into the Franklin Center’s DonorsTrust and its related Donors MARKEY, who has battled so long and connections to groups and funders in Capital Fund. We don’t know who the so effectively in this struggle against this web of denial. hidden donors are because that is why such odds, and I think we both feel the According to ‘‘DeSmogBlog,’’ the they set up the DonorsTrust thing, but tide has turned, things are going our Franklin Center’s director of donor de- a clue of who they might be comes way, but we have to hurry because na- velopment comes out of the Charles G. from the reported donors—like the ture is unforgiving. As the Pope said: Koch Foundation—wow. Its senior vice rightwing Lynde and Harry Bradley God forgives, mankind forgives some- president in charge of strategic initia- Foundation, founded, according to the times, but nature never forgives. You tives comes out of the Koch brothers’ Center for Media and Democracy’s slap her and she will slap you back. . The found- SourceWatch, by ‘‘one of the original And we have given nature one hell of a ing board member who set it up helped charter members of the far rightwing slap with climate change. run, oh, Americans for Prosperity in John Birch Society.’’ Another John When I was here yesterday, I was North Dakota. According to Media Birch Society board member was Fred pointing to the web of denial and point- Matters for America, the Franklin Cen- Koch, the father of Charles and David ing out that the web of denial has to ter’s coalitions coordinator and its Koch. Dr. Brulle’s research indicates mislead to be effective. That is what it chief of staff also came out of, oh, that the between is—a tool to mislead. I pointed out Americans for Prosperity. Not surpris- 2003 and 2010 gave almost $30 million to what a Koch brothers operative de- ingly, the Pew Research Center’s these organizations that he tracks in scribed as its goal when this whole web Project for Excellence in Journalism this web of denial—$30 million. was being developed. This was the ranked the Franklin Center Watch- Then there is the Dunn’s Foundation quote: ‘‘It would be necessary [to] use dog.org group as ‘‘highly ideological.’’ for the Advancement of Right Think- ambiguous and misleading names, ob- It is clear they have a bias at the ing, a Florida-based grant-making scure the true agenda, and conceal the Franklin Center to sow doubt regard- foundation that Dr. Brulle’s research means of control.’’ ing human-caused climate change. It is again shows between 2003 and 2010 gave Well, if you are looking for ambig- no surprise, considering where their $13.7 million into this web of denial or- uous and misleading names that can staff and money comes from. ganizations. obscure the true agenda and conceal Here is the stuff they say. In 2015, a Then there is the Searle Freedom the means of control, one tactic would vice president for research and resident Trust, which, according to the Center be to exploit our Founding Fathers—to scholar at the John Locke Founda- for Media and Democracy’s seize their names and use them to lend tion—more on them shortly—wrote in SourceWatch, has also funded Ameri- authority and gravitas to the decep- the Franklin Center-affiliated Carolina cans for Prosperity—guess what; the tion, in the same way that using the Journal that ‘‘global warming is not Koch group—the American Enterprise names of Lord Acton, the famous histo- about data points’’ so much as it has Institute, ALEC—the front group—the rian, or George C. Marshall, the hero of been ‘‘a trick pulled by global warming —those classics World War II, accomplished that task. alarmists over the last decade.’’ There who compared climate change believers In this case, the names are Franklin, is a responsible view. to the Unabomber—and the State Pol- Madison, and Jefferson, and they are In 2014, a staff reporter for the icy Network. Dr. Brulle’s research, joined by the philosopher John Locke. Franklin Center’s Watchdog.org, again, indicates that Searle gave $21.7 Let’s start with the so-called Frank- wrote: ‘‘I continue to contend that ‘cli- million to this web of denial groups lin Center for Government and Public mate change’ is a meaningless phrase that he tracks. Integrity, which has a nice little sil- because the climate obviously changes Another donor, of course, to the houette of Ben Franklin on its logo. It . . . [but] is useful for political activ- Franklin Institute is the Charles G. was established in 2009. It says it ‘‘sup- ism. . . . ’’ Koch Charitable Foundation. That one ports and trains investigative journal- In 2011, its outlet, the Hawaii Re- is self-explanatory. So if we look at ists to advance transparency, account- porter, wrote: ‘‘Hard-nosed physical what is going on at the Franklin Cen- ability, and fiscal responsibility in evidence of man-made global warming ter, we will see Koch people, Koch local government, and to spotlight has yet to be provided by the pro- money, and Koch buddies. free-market, pro-liberty solutions to moters of warming, even after a nomi- Then there is the so-called James difficult policy challenges.’’ nal $80 billion have been spent in the Madison Institute, a libertarian think According to ‘‘DeSmogBlog,’’ the attempt to do so.’’ tank with a long history of trying to Franklin Center was launched and The Nieman Foundation for Jour- undermine climate science and renew- funded by a conservative think tank nalism at Harvard has looked at the able energy policy. Yale Professor Jus- that encouraged grassroots activism, Franklin Center and describes it as ‘‘at tin Farrell lists the James Madison In- which is the now defunct Sam Adams the forefront of an effort to blur the stitute among the organizations he Alliance. distinction between statehouse report- tracks contributing to the polarization Oh no, another bogus organization ing and political advocacy.’’ A former of climate change debate. The Heart- exploiting the name of yet another Reuters chief White House cor- land Institute’s—yes, that wonderful Founding Father. There is a little pat- respondent describes the Franklin Cen- Unabomber group—senior fellow for en- tern here. ter’s state Watchdog.org as ‘‘delivering vironmental policy is on the James Jeff Nesbitt, whom I spoke about yes- political propaganda dressed up as Madison Institute’s research advisory terday, wrote this about the Franklin journalism.’’ council. It is such a web of connec- Center in his book ‘‘Poison Tea: How Let’s follow the money. The Franklin tions. Big Oil and Big Tobacco Invented the Center’s top donor in 2011, as reported According to research by the Amer- Tea Party and Captured the GOP.’’ by the nonprofit Media Matters for ican Bridge Project, the Madison Insti- At the start of 2008, the Franklin Center America and the Center for Public In- tute received over $1.4 million in direct for Government and Public Integrity had a tegrity, was, guess what, the donations from Koch-affiliated groups. budget of zero dollars. Its legal home was a rightwing’s ‘‘dark money ATM,’’ Between 2003 and 2013, they received taffy shop in Medora, North Dakota. By 2009, DonorsTrust. It was set up by whom? funding from the John Templeton

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This report falsely declared Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch. moting skepticism and doubt about sci- that consensus on climate change does Mother Jones reported in 2011 that entific consensus on climate change.’’ not exist, and declared: ‘‘The greatest Charles Koch recognized the The institute has been involved in de- threat we face from climate change is Templeton Foundation for having do- fending the tobacco industry and has the danger of rushing into foolish and nated over $1 million to Koch-related on its academic advisory council a po- costly policies driven by ill-founded causes, and Dr. Brulle’s research shows litical scientist from the Global Warm- climate change hysteria.’’ that Templeton gave more than $20 ing Policy Foundation, a high-profile Art Pope figures in Jane Mayer’s million to this web of denial organiza- UK climate denier group. book ‘‘Dark Money’’ as ‘‘a charter tion he tracks. There is also a John Locke Founda- member of the Koch network’’ and a Dunn’s Foundation for the Advance- tion, which describes itself as ‘‘an inde- ‘‘longtime friend and ally, [who] shared ment of Right Thinking turns up pendent, non-profit think tank that Charles [Koch’s] passion for free-mar- again—Franklin, now Madison. The would work for truth, for freedom, and ket philosophy.’’ Mayer writes that same foundation that gave $13.7 million for the future of North Carolina.’’ It is Pope was a regular at the Kochs’ secret to these climate change countermove- one of the blue dots here on Professor planning summits and ‘‘served on the ment organizations also gave to the Brulle’s denial web diagram. Dr. board of the Koch’s main public advo- Madison one. Farrell, too, has the foundation on his cacy group’’—wait for it—‘‘Americans Of course, again, the Lynde and list of climate change denier and for Prosperity, as he had on its prede- Harry Bradley Foundation gave to the countermovement organizations. Yes, cessor, Citizens for a Sound Economy.’’ Franklin Center and gave to the Madi- it is a member of the Koch-funded Mayer adds: ‘‘Pope’s role in his home son Center to the tune of almost $30 , of course, and it state of North Carolina was in many million into the climate denial web. is funded significantly by a North respects a state-sized version of the The James Madison Institute is also Carolina billionaire by the name of Art Kochs’ role nationally.’’ a member of the State Policy Network. Pope, who, according to Indy Week, is Other Locke Foundation funders The State Policy Network, according ‘‘one of the most trusted members of identified by Conservative Trans- to the Center for Media and Democ- the Koch’s elite circle: He has been a parency Project between 1995 and 2014 racy’s SourceWatch, is an ‘‘$83 million regular invitee to the Koch’s secretive, include the , right-wing empire’’ that has received semiannual gathering of the major which, according to Center for Media money from a Koch family foundation, right-wing donors and activists,’’ and and Democracy’s SourceWatch, has also funded, yes, Americans for Pros- and, of course, the identity-scrubbing he is a ‘‘valuable junior partner in perity, and the American Enterprise DonorsTrust and Donors Capital— many key Koch operations.’’ which, by the way, are the big green di- The foundation center database Institute, and ALEC—which we have amond here at the center of this web. shows that between 2003 and 2013, the talked about and sponsors the State According to the ‘‘DeSmogBlog’’ ex- John Locke Foundation received over Policy Network—and, of course, we amination of the Madison Institute, it $21 million from the John William can’t go without the Heartland Insti- opposed the Waxman-Markey cap-and- Pope Foundation—which is named tute, with their wonderful Unabomber trade legislation, and in 2009 issued a after Art Pope’s father—and over billboard. Dr. Brulle’s research indicates that plea to policymakers in Florida—the $60,000 from the Charles Koch Founda- the Searle Trust gave over $20 million State that is going fastest under water tion. It gets so cozy between everyone to these groups between 2003 and 2010. because of sea level rise—to stop any here. According to a 2014 Washington Donors Capital Fund—this big spider at action on climate change following the Post profile of Art Pope, he has poured the center of the web here—is a donor so-called Climategate scandal. After over $30 million through his family’s to the John Locke Foundation, and, of six thorough investigations looked at foundation into the Koch front group course, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Climategate, true, there was no scan- Americans for Prosperity—all of whose Foundation. The John Locke Founda- dal at all, but it would appear that the members, you remember, went over to tion is a member of the State Policy Institute neither rescinded its plea nor the Franklin Institute. Professor Network, that ‘‘$83 million right-wing set the record straight. Brulle has put the John William Pope empire’’ funded by a Koch family foun- This institute actively fights renew- Foundation at over $20 million of total dation and the identity-launderers Do- able energy policies in Florida. An in- foundation funding to this climate nors Trust and Donors Capital. stitute report co-written by a senior change denial web. Dr. Brulle cites the That brings us to the so-called Thom- fellow at the Heartland Institute— John Locke Foundation as having re- as Jefferson Institute for Public Pol- again, the connection, Madison Insti- ceived 3 percent of the total income icy. By the way, it is fair to say that tute to Heartland Institute and Heart- distributed within the climate change yet again when we move from Franklin land Institute to the billboard that countermovement between 2003 and to Madison, these foundations end up compared climate scientists to the 2010. showing Koch people, Koch money, and Unabomber—opposed a proposed solar An article in Facing South calls the Koch buddies. The Thomas Jefferson constitutional amendment. Well, they John Locke Foundation ‘‘one of the Institute is a public policy foundation weren’t alone. According to news re- most outspoken voices of climate de- and, yes, another member of the State ports, Florida’s power companies were nial in North Carolina, claiming that Policy Network, the $83 million right- contributing big money to a political global warming is a ‘pseudoscientific wing empire. committee fighting that solar amend- fraud.’’’ According to research done by By the way, the Center for Media and ment, including over $1 million from Greenpeace, the foundation stated in a Democracy’s in-depth investigation of Florida Power and Light, $1 million 2005 policy brief that ‘‘a greenhouse gas the State Policy Network shows how from Duke Energy, over $800,000 from reduction policy would have only costs the network and its member think Tampa Electric Company, and $640,000 and no benefits.’’ In 2005, the founda- tanks are all interconnected to ALEC from Gulf Power. Well, guess what. The tion released a public policy statement and to the Koch brothers. But that is president and CEO of Gulf Power was entitled ‘‘Global Warming Policy: NC for another speech. then on the board of, oh, the James Should Do Nothing,’’ whose author According to ‘‘DeSmogBlog,’’ many Madison Institute. wrote similar climate denial pieces in of the Jefferson Institute studies are Then we move on to John Locke, who the Franklin Center-affiliated Carolina authored by an operative of the Herit- gives us a twofer. First, there is the Journal. It is hard to keep track of all age Foundation, the group that Sen- Locke Institute. It is named for the these crisscrossings. ator FRANKEN spoke about earlier this philosopher John Locke, who, with In 2007, the foundation released a pol- evening, and the Energy and Environ- Montesquieu, are the two major philo- icy report entitled ‘‘A North Carolina ment Legal Institute—two groups that sophical influences of the Founding Fa- Citizen’s Guide to Global Warming,’’ are both on this web.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 13, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G12JY6.084 S12JYPT1 emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with SENATE July 12, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5017 The Thomas Jefferson Institute of our National Labs and see how far who are up to no good and don’t want prominently displays a statue of Jeffer- you get. Tell that to your home State to be caught out for who they really son on its Web page and claims to be a university and see how far you get. are. nonpartisan supporter of ‘‘environ- In 2008, he wrote about climate Let me conclude by thanking the mental stewardship,’’ but the institute change for the Jefferson Journal, a many Senators who have participated is an outspoken critic of the Presi- commentary forum of the Jefferson In- in this effort to put a little bit of a dent’s Clean Power Plan and renewable stitute, that ‘‘greenhouse gas reduction spotlight on a very phony web of denial sources of energy and actively sows goals . . . are both unachievable and ir- that is operating actively in our de- doubt about climate science. The insti- relevant’’ and assured ‘‘there will be no mocracy to distort and disturb its tute is right here on Professor Brulle’s climate catastrophe due to CO2 because proper operation and to sabotage web of climate change countermove- either the science is wrong or we will America’s ability to respond in a re- ment organizations. use geoengineering.’’ sponsible way to the climate crisis. In 2011, he wrote two pieces for the According to data compiled by the They include our leader HARRY REID, Jefferson Journal opposing wind power, Conservative Transparency project be- BEN CARDIN, CHRIS COONS, TIM KAINE, tween 1998 and 2014, the Jefferson Insti- contending that—you are not going to ELIZABETH WARREN, CHUCK SCHUMER, tute received funding from the fol- believe this, but here is the quote— TOM UDALL, JEFF MERKLEY, BARBARA lowing entities in the denial web: first, ‘‘wind is not affordable and it is not BOXER, DICK DURBIN, BRIAN SCHATZ, AL of course, is the identity-laundering clean’’ and that wind power ‘‘has no FRANKEN, MARTIN HEINRICH, my senior Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund. sensible place in a 21st century civili- Senator JACK REED, JEANNE SHAHEEN, Then there is the Lynde and Harry zation.’’ Tell that to our friend Senator GARY PETERS, DICK BLUMENTHAL, and Bradley Foundation, which, as we re- GRASSLEY, whose State gets a third of ED MARKEY. I am honored to partici- call, also supported the Franklin Cen- its power from wind energy. pate in this effort with them. ter and the Madison Institute and links Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, to the Koch brothers through the far- Locke—these are great names put on With that, I yield the floor. rightwing John Birch Society. Remem- the front of very shady Koch-funded f ber, they were at almost $30 million front groups in the web of denial, and into climate denial organizations in the organizations share several com- those years between 2003 and 2010. And mon features: First, they all propagate ADJOURNMENT UNTIL 9:30 A.M. then there is the William E. Simon what by any reasonable standard is TOMORROW Foundation, whose current president is preposterous nonsense and masquerade The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under also a senior fellow at the rightwing it as science and independent opinion. the previous order, the Senate stands Manhattan Institute, a member of the Second, they all get massive funding adjourned until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. Grant Advisory Committee of the from fossil fuel interests and always Thereupon, the Senate, at 8:27 p.m., Searle Freedom Trust, and a past mem- line up obediently with those interests. adjourned until Wednesday, July 13, ber of the Board of Overseers of the Third, they interlock. The interlocking 2016, at 9:30 a.m. Hoover Institution. It is quite a web in- is almost too complicated to track—in deed. staff, in board members, in funding f The Jefferson Institute’s director was sources—but it all traces back to fossil quoted in 2007 as saying: ‘‘When it fuel money. And, of course, they all CONFIRMATION comes to global warming, I’m a skeptic mask themselves behind the names of Executive nomination confirmed by because the conclusions about the great men from history who would re- the Senate July 12, 2016: cause of the apparent warming stand coil to discover their names and rep- on the shoulders of incredibly uncer- utations being put to such discredit- DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CAROLE SCHWARTZ RENDON, OF OHIO, TO BE UNITED tain data and models.’’ Tell that to able use. Who needs to hide behind STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NOAA and NASA and every single one names like that? I submit it is people OHIO FOR THE TERM OF FOUR YEARS.

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