Bought climate science

Chopping off the heads of the hydra becomes exhausting when the Spokesman-Review gives unlimited column space to it (“Guest Opinion: Spokane greens fail the climate test,” June 30. What is the hydra? It is the network of think tanks and policy centers founded and funded by ultra conservative multibillionaires David and Charles Koch. The Kochs fund the Washington Policy Center.

The S-R published a hit piece by Todd Myers, the environmental policy “expert” employed there. Myers, a nonscientist, speaks authoritatively about the science of cleaning up the environment. His degrees are in politics, and Russian/International Studies, and his career has been in public relations. He has written numerous ridiculous statements over the past 15 years on the environment, rarely citing reputable journaled research. I don’t blame him in particular. He is only following the dictates of the funders of his employer.

The Koch brothers have spent more than $85,000,000 to promote the lies that there is no such thing as climate change, that there are no dangers to unlimited carbon and CO2 pollution, that free markets are the only way to deal with pollution. Verified scientific research has proven these ideas false. Providing a free forum for billionaires? Let them buy an ad.

Greg Presley

Spokane