Koch Industries 3,667% Return on Its Tea Party Investment
Koch Industries has gotten a tremendous return on its investment in the Tea Party. As the details of the April 8 budget deal emerge, it's become clear that $1.65 billion of the $38.5 billion in budget cuts that kept the U.S. government hostage was a fraction of Koch's ransom payment.
After all, Koch is a $100 billion privately held refining, chemicals, plastics and textiles company, that has contributed at least $45 million to the Tea Party through various Political Action Committees. And Koch is not going to be satisfied until it has zeroed out the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget so it can exercise what it believes is its right to pollute.
While the last-minute budget deal was vague on the details last week, it has become clearer who will pay the price for the Tea Party's electoral victory last November (TPM provides a list of all the cuts). According to the Wall Street Journal, the $38.5 billion deal includes a 16% cut in the EPA's budget, taking it down to $8.7 billion. Those cuts will make it harder for states to enforce environmental laws and includes the following initiatives that will gut the EPA:
Why is Koch eager to wipe out the EPA and why would it love to cut the $8.7 billion left in its budget? That's easy, Koch has an outstanding record when it comes to polluting -- including repeated spills from its oil pipelines and thwarted efforts to dump Dioxin -- the genetic-mutation-causing chemical in Agent Orange -- into a river in Florida. How so? In these three examples alone, the EPA has required Koch to pay $51.5 million in fines and $505 million in facilities upgrades:
Koch appears to be a very successful company. And it even has its own management philosophy -- dubbed Market Based Management (MBM). According to an interview with MBM's author, Charles Koch, between 1960 and 2009, Koch's book value rose 2,500-fold -- 17.1 times the 146-fold growth of the S&P 500. It's an impressive, if self-reported, performance.
And that performance seems to have given Koch the ability to delude itself big time. A key principle of MBM, according to Koch, is "integrity and compliance. Without them, we cannot create real value or survive as a company. We place integrity first. In addition, we strive for 10,000 percent compliance, which means 100 percent of employees fully complying 100 percent of the time with all environmental, health, safety and other applicable laws and regulations 100% compliance and 100% integrity."
In comparing Koch's record of violating environmental laws and paying record fines for these violations, I wonder how Koch would reconcile its words with its deeds.
But if its self-reported returns on investment are accurate, then it's pretty clear that Koch 3,667% return on its Tea Party investment so far is only the beginning. If it can zero out the EPA, or even cripple it enough to practice its unfettered right to pollute, it will have succeeded in achieving 10,000% compliance by eliminating the environmental laws the violation of which has cost it at least $51.5 million in fines and $505 million in pollution control investment.
If those laws go away, then it can keep doing what it has been doing and will have no legal limits on how much it can pollute. The only question then will be whether the Americans who live next to its polluting plants and pipelines will have any ability to stop what Koch can do in pursuit of its interests to profit and pollute.
After all, Koch is a $100 billion privately held refining, chemicals, plastics and textiles company, that has contributed at least $45 million to the Tea Party through various Political Action Committees. And Koch is not going to be satisfied until it has zeroed out the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget so it can exercise what it believes is its right to pollute.
While the last-minute budget deal was vague on the details last week, it has become clearer who will pay the price for the Tea Party's electoral victory last November (TPM provides a list of all the cuts). According to the Wall Street Journal, the $38.5 billion deal includes a 16% cut in the EPA's budget, taking it down to $8.7 billion. Those cuts will make it harder for states to enforce environmental laws and includes the following initiatives that will gut the EPA:
- Cut $1 billion from programs to build sewage-treatment and drinking-water plants;
- Slash by 33%, or $149 million, a federal fund for buying land for environmental purposes; and
- Reduce by 13%, or $49 million, programs related to climate change.
Why is Koch eager to wipe out the EPA and why would it love to cut the $8.7 billion left in its budget? That's easy, Koch has an outstanding record when it comes to polluting -- including repeated spills from its oil pipelines and thwarted efforts to dump Dioxin -- the genetic-mutation-causing chemical in Agent Orange -- into a river in Florida. How so? In these three examples alone, the EPA has required Koch to pay $51.5 million in fines and $505 million in facilities upgrades:
- $1.5 million in EPA fines and $500 million in facilities upgrades. In 2009, the EPA announced that Koch would pay $1.5 million in fines and invest $500 million to add pollution control equipment to 12 plants in which the EPA found 680 violations of water, air, hazardous waste, emergency planning and preparedness laws.
- $30 million EPA fine for 300 oil spills. In January 2000, the EPA and the U.S. Justice Department required Koch to pay a $30 million fine and to spend $5 million on pipeline upgrades after 300 oil spills from Koch pipelines and facilities in six states -- Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana and Alabama. Among the spills was one 100,000 gallon oil spill in Texas that "caused a 12-mile oil slick on Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay."
- $20 million Justice Department settlement for benzene release. In late 2000, Koch faced 97 counts of covering up the illegal releases of 91 tons of benzene, a carcinogen, from its refinery in Corpus Christi. Koch agreed to settle the charges, that could have included $350 million in fines, in exchange for a guilty plea for falsifying documents, and a $20 million settlement.
Koch appears to be a very successful company. And it even has its own management philosophy -- dubbed Market Based Management (MBM). According to an interview with MBM's author, Charles Koch, between 1960 and 2009, Koch's book value rose 2,500-fold -- 17.1 times the 146-fold growth of the S&P 500. It's an impressive, if self-reported, performance.
And that performance seems to have given Koch the ability to delude itself big time. A key principle of MBM, according to Koch, is "integrity and compliance. Without them, we cannot create real value or survive as a company. We place integrity first. In addition, we strive for 10,000 percent compliance, which means 100 percent of employees fully complying 100 percent of the time with all environmental, health, safety and other applicable laws and regulations 100% compliance and 100% integrity."
In comparing Koch's record of violating environmental laws and paying record fines for these violations, I wonder how Koch would reconcile its words with its deeds.
But if its self-reported returns on investment are accurate, then it's pretty clear that Koch 3,667% return on its Tea Party investment so far is only the beginning. If it can zero out the EPA, or even cripple it enough to practice its unfettered right to pollute, it will have succeeded in achieving 10,000% compliance by eliminating the environmental laws the violation of which has cost it at least $51.5 million in fines and $505 million in pollution control investment.
If those laws go away, then it can keep doing what it has been doing and will have no legal limits on how much it can pollute. The only question then will be whether the Americans who live next to its polluting plants and pipelines will have any ability to stop what Koch can do in pursuit of its interests to profit and pollute.
posted by petercohan at 5:00 AM
3 Comments:
Oil Spill Eater II the safe effective means to address 100% of a spill while converting it to CO2 and water.
EMULATING MOTHER NATURE
HOW BIOREMEDIATION OCCURS IN MOTHER NATURE
We need to first explain what happens In Mother Nature when a hazardous
material is spilled. (Note that the key words used here are set in bold and defined in a simple glossary on the last page.)
There is a myriad of bacteria everywhere on the planet. Where a toxic spill comes in direct
contact with bacteria, that bacteria is killed or dies off. Bacteria that is proximal [near] to the spill but not in direct contact, reacts in several ways:
• First, the bacteria separate themselves far enough away so as to protect themselves from the toxicity of the spill.
• Second, the bacteria then releases enzymes and biosurfactants to attack the
spill.
• Third, the biosurfactants emulsify and solubilize the spill.
What this means is the biosurfactants will break up and partition the spill into a manageable consistency. In other words, it is breaking down the molecular structure of the spill or detoxifying it, so it can be used as a food source.
The enzymes then form binding sites on the emulsified or solubilize spill and
this is where the bacteria will initially attach themselves and start the digestive process.
There have to be large amounts of bacteria for this process to take effect, and, if left solely to nature, it is a long process for bacteria to acclimate themselves to a spill. It then takes further time for the bacteria to release enzymes and surfactants.
One of the limiting factors is the number of bacteria present to produce and release enough enzymes and surfactants to get the process started.
This is why you hear scientists talk about adding nutrients to jumpstart the rapid growth of bacteria so enough enzymes and biosurfactants can be released to affect the mitigation of the spill.
However, nutrients alone have limited uses because of concentration requirements which are compromised in various environments--washed away or diluted by wave motion—and that, compounded with the time it takes to grow a large population of bacteria, reduces their effectiveness.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were a means of emulating Mother Nature while at
the same time, speeding up the process to mitigate in hours, days or weeks what Mother
Nature takes months and/or years to handle on her own?
There is such a solution: OIL SPILL EATER II
OIL SPILL EATER II (OSE II) contains exact proportions of enzymes, bio surfactants, nutrients and other necessary constituents for complete life cycles and biodegradation.
When OSE II is added to a spill, it is not necessary to wait on the proximal bacteria to release enough enzymes or bio surfactants since they are already supplied by OSE II. Therefore, the minute you apply OSE II, there is sufficient biosurfactants to start the emulsification and solubilization process. This process generally takes just a minute or two, or possibly several more minutes depending on the consistency of the spill. As the bio surfactants do their job, the enzymes are attaching themselves to broken down hydrocarbon structures, forming digestive binding sites.
Note: Once this process has occurred, several important changes take effect:
1. The fire hazard has diminished.
2. The toxicity of the spill is rapidly diminished.
3. The odor or smell is almost non-existent.
4. The oil or spill will no longer adhere to anything.
5. The spill is caused to float, OSE II will prevent the oil from sinking.
Oil Spill Eater II the safe effective means to address 100% of a spill while converting it to CO2 and water.
EMULATING MOTHER NATURE
HOW BIOREMEDIATION OCCURS IN MOTHER NATURE
We need to first explain what happens In Mother Nature when a hazardous
material is spilled. (Note that the key words used here are set in bold and defined in a simple glossary on the last page.)
There is a myriad of bacteria everywhere on the planet. Where a toxic spill comes in direct
contact with bacteria, that bacteria is killed or dies off. Bacteria that is proximal [near] to the spill but not in direct contact, reacts in several ways:
• First, the bacteria separate themselves far enough away so as to protect themselves from the toxicity of the spill.
• Second, the bacteria then releases enzymes and biosurfactants to attack the
spill.
• Third, the biosurfactants emulsify and solubilize the spill.
What this means is the biosurfactants will break up and partition the spill into a manageable consistency. In other words, it is breaking down the molecular structure of the spill or detoxifying it, so it can be used as a food source.
The enzymes then form binding sites on the emulsified or solubilize spill and
this is where the bacteria will initially attach themselves and start the digestive process.
There have to be large amounts of bacteria for this process to take effect, and, if left solely to nature, it is a long process for bacteria to acclimate themselves to a spill. It then takes further time for the bacteria to release enzymes and surfactants.
One of the limiting factors is the number of bacteria present to produce and release enough enzymes and surfactants to get the process started.
This is why you hear scientists talk about adding nutrients to jumpstart the rapid growth of bacteria so enough enzymes and biosurfactants can be released to affect the mitigation of the spill.
However, nutrients alone have limited uses because of concentration requirements which are compromised in various environments--washed away or diluted by wave motion—and that, compounded with the time it takes to grow a large population of bacteria, reduces their effectiveness.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were a means of emulating Mother Nature while at
the same time, speeding up the process to mitigate in hours, days or weeks what Mother
Nature takes months and/or years to handle on her own?
There is such a solution: OIL SPILL EATER II
OIL SPILL EATER II (OSE II) contains exact proportions of enzymes, bio surfactants, nutrients and other necessary constituents for complete life cycles and biodegradation.
When OSE II is added to a spill, it is not necessary to wait on the proximal bacteria to release enough enzymes or bio surfactants since they are already supplied by OSE II. Therefore, the minute you apply OSE II, there is sufficient biosurfactants to start the emulsification and solubilization process. This process generally takes just a minute or two, or possibly several more minutes depending on the consistency of the spill. As the bio surfactants do their job, the enzymes are attaching themselves to broken down hydrocarbon structures, forming digestive binding sites.
Note: Once this process has occurred, several important changes take effect:
1. The fire hazard has diminished.
2. The toxicity of the spill is rapidly diminished.
3. The odor or smell is almost non-existent.
4. The oil or spill will no longer adhere to anything.
5. The spill is caused to float, OSE II will prevent the oil from sinking.
Oil Spill Eater II the safe effective means to address 100% of a spill while converting it to CO2 and water.
EMULATING MOTHER NATURE
HOW BIOREMEDIATION OCCURS IN MOTHER NATURE
We need to first explain what happens In Mother Nature when a hazardous
material is spilled. (Note that the key words used here are set in bold and defined in a simple glossary on the last page.)
There is a myriad of bacteria everywhere on the planet. Where a toxic spill comes in direct
contact with bacteria, that bacteria is killed or dies off. Bacteria that is proximal [near] to the spill but not in direct contact, reacts in several ways:
• First, the bacteria separate themselves far enough away so as to protect themselves from the toxicity of the spill.
• Second, the bacteria then releases enzymes and biosurfactants to attack the
spill.
• Third, the biosurfactants emulsify and solubilize the spill.
What this means is the biosurfactants will break up and partition the spill into a manageable consistency. In other words, it is breaking down the molecular structure of the spill or detoxifying it, so it can be used as a food source.
The enzymes then form binding sites on the emulsified or solubilize spill and
this is where the bacteria will initially attach themselves and start the digestive process.
There have to be large amounts of bacteria for this process to take effect, and, if left solely to nature, it is a long process for bacteria to acclimate themselves to a spill. It then takes further time for the bacteria to release enzymes and surfactants.
One of the limiting factors is the number of bacteria present to produce and release enough enzymes and surfactants to get the process started.
This is why you hear scientists talk about adding nutrients to jumpstart the rapid growth of bacteria so enough enzymes and biosurfactants can be released to affect the mitigation of the spill.
However, nutrients alone have limited uses because of concentration requirements which are compromised in various environments--washed away or diluted by wave motion—and that, compounded with the time it takes to grow a large population of bacteria, reduces their effectiveness.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were a means of emulating Mother Nature while at
the same time, speeding up the process to mitigate in hours, days or weeks what Mother
Nature takes months and/or years to handle on her own?
There is such a solution: OIL SPILL EATER II
OIL SPILL EATER II (OSE II) contains exact proportions of enzymes, bio surfactants, nutrients and other necessary constituents for complete life cycles and biodegradation.
When OSE II is added to a spill, it is not necessary to wait on the proximal bacteria to release enough enzymes or bio surfactants since they are already supplied by OSE II. Therefore, the minute you apply OSE II, there is sufficient biosurfactants to start the emulsification and solubilization process. This process generally takes just a minute or two, or possibly several more minutes depending on the consistency of the spill. As the bio surfactants do their job, the enzymes are attaching themselves to broken down hydrocarbon structures, forming digestive binding sites.
Note: Once this process has occurred, several important changes take effect:
1. The fire hazard has diminished.
2. The toxicity of the spill is rapidly diminished.
3. The odor or smell is almost non-existent.
4. The oil or spill will no longer adhere to anything.
5. The spill is caused to float, OSE II will prevent the oil from sinking.
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