Washington Policy Center responds

In its commentary last weekend (“Let’s deal with climate crisis now,” July 7), the climate activists at 350 Spokane claimed the Washington Policy Center is funded by the (dreaded) Koch brothers and the American Petroleum Institute. They have no evidence for this claim and it is part of a pattern of casual dishonesty by too many greens on the left. We receive no money from Koch or API.

To be clear, I would happily accept funding from any organization, including the Kochs, or oil companies who produce products that power the homes of 350 Spokane members every day. At Washington Policy Center we are guided by science and sound economics. We appreciate the support of everyone so we can continue to improve lives through market solutions.

The Washington Policy Center believes in science and we offer an experiment to test 350 Spokane’s hypothesis that we are influenced by donations. I challenge 350 Spokane to send us many, large donations with the explicit demand that we promote government coercion and reject environmental approaches that promote personal freedom and technology. It can be a simple test to see if their funding would change my policy advice.

Sadly, I doubt they will take me up on that. Ultimately they know we will stand by the fact that effective environmental stewardship relies on people and innovation, not politicians and government coercion.

Todd Myers, Environmental Director, Washington Policy Center

Seattle