Bernie Sanders: ‘This Is Exactly What We Mean When We Talk About Oligarchy’

Despite the numerous controversies and vocal opposition swirling around President Donald Trump‘s pick to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Senators voted 52 to 46, largely along party lines, in February to confirm Oklahoma Republican Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator.

It now appears that Koch Industries—the oil and gas conglomerate owned by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch—directly lobbied Congress to confirm Pruitt and spent millions to influence anti-environmental initiatives, a disclosure report shows.

As The Intercept reported:

“The firm’s latest disclosure form reports that its in-house corporate lobbying team spent $3.1 million to influence lawmakers over the first three months of the year on a variety of issues affecting its bottom line, including the EPA’s Clean Power Rule on carbon emissions, carbon pricing, the Clean Air Act and ‘nominations for various positions at the Department of Energy.'”

“This is exactly what we mean when we talk about oligarchy. Multi-billionaires and corporations should not have the power to pick and choose who is in charge of our federal agencies,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said in response to The Intercept’s report. “But that is exactly what happened—Koch Industries spent millions on lobbying Congress to confirm Scott Pruitt, our head of the Environmental Protection Agency who doesn’t believe in environmental protection.”

Koch Industries has contributed $38.5 million to federal candidates over the last 25 years and spent another $117 million since 1998 on lobbying. DeSmog reported in February that the company’s deep pockets are contributing campaign funds to four GOP representatives who have introduced legislation to completely abolish the EPA.

Sanders, who grilled Pruitt during the confirmation hearings, has been outspoken in his criticism of Pruitt as well as the Trump administration’s generally dismissive attitude towards climate change.

“It’s clear that Trump doesn’t represent working families. His agenda benefits the Koch brothers and their billionaire [friends]. Our job is to stand together to defeat the drift toward oligarchy and create a vibrant democracy—not one controlled by corporate interests,” Sanders said.

Pruitt has reported ties to the fossil fuel industry and he repeatedly sued the EPA when he was Oklahoma Attorney General. In 2014, he was caught sending letters on state government letterheads to President Obama and federal agency heads asserting that the EPA was overestimating the air pollution from drilling for natural gas in Oklahoma. As it turns out, the letter was written by lawyers for one of the state’s largest oil and gas companies, Devon Energy.

Following Trump’s executive order, Pruitt plans to kill the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era regulation designed to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. Pruitt also challenged the plan when he was Oklahoma AG.

Pruitt said in March that he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to climate change.

The Intercept also detailed how Pruitt’s nomination as EPA head was strongly backed by industry groups:

“The American Energy Alliance, an advocacy group founded by former Koch Industries lobbyist Tom Pyle, issued a letter in support of Pruitt along with other Koch-backed conservative nonprofits. America Rising Squared, a political research outfit that has harassed environmental activists, formed a special website—now deleted—to respond to criticism of Pruitt’s record.”