Mike Johnson, “Champion of the Fossil Fuel Industry” and Climate Change Denier Elected as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

[Gunnar Larson]

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/10/mike-johnson-champion-of-the-fossil-fuel-industry-and-climate-change-denier-elected-as-speaker-of-the-united-states-house-of-representatives/


By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: October 26, 2023 ~

Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the New Speaker of the House of
Representatives
Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the New Speaker of the House

Most people in America have never heard of the newly elected Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
Billionaire Charles Koch, the fossil fuel kingpin and self-anointed head of
the right-wing political money machine, probably likes it that way.

Koch is likely hoping that Americans will just breathe a sigh of relief
that the House of Representatives finally has a leader and not look any
deeper into who was handed the reins.

According to OpenSecrets.org, the nonprofit watchdog of campaign money, the
largest industry supporting Johnson since his first federal campaign in
2015 is the oil and gas industry, which has infused $338,000 into Johnson’s
campaign coffers. Of that amount, $30,000 came from the Koch Industries
PAC, where Charles Koch has sat as the Chairman and CEO for 56 years.

Within hours of the news that Johnson was the new House Speaker, the Sierra
Club released this statement:

“Since he first launched his House campaign in 2015, Johnson has received
more money tied to the oil and gas industry than any other industry. At the
same time, Johnson has a long track record of downplaying and being
dismissive of the climate crisis. In 2017, Johnson remarked, ‘The climate
is changing, but the question is, is it being caused by natural cycles over
the span of the Earth’s history? Or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I
don’t believe in the latter. I don’t think that’s the primary driver.’

“Additionally, Johnson has worked repeatedly to undermine the Endangered
Species Act and weaken protections for those species covered by it.”

Nonprofits funded by Charles Koch and family-related trusts have also been
behind much of the climate denial propaganda. In 2012, the New York Times
published documents which had been leaked from The Heartland Institute. The
documents showed that the group was planning a tailored curriculum for high
schools to spread skepticism about climate change. The documents also
showed that the Charles Koch Foundation had contributed $25,000 in 2011 and
was anticipated to contribute $200,000 in 2012 to the Heartland Institute.

The Heartland Institute is a climate science denier that has received more
than $26 million from two Koch-related groups, Donors Capital Fund and
Donors Trust, according to the Conservative Transparency Project using
publicly available 990 IRS tax filings.

Charles Koch is now effectively functioning as a puppet master in
Washington, pulling levers here and there and everywhere. As we wrote
previously:

“Imagine a country that allows a private fossil fuels conglomerate (or its
billionaire boss, Charles Koch, the 17th richest person in the world
according to Forbes) to get away with the following:

Meet secretly with big political donors twice a year to plot a coordinated
strategy to put their chosen people in public office;

Meet at his private club with a sitting Supreme Court justice who will then
rule on key legislation that benefits his interests;

Fund an organization that then sluices money to the wife of the Supreme
Court Justice;

Run a highly sophisticated voter registration database, data mining and
get-out-the-vote operation called i360, in order to pack Congress with
people who will pursue an antiregulatory agenda;

Install dozens of its lawyers and operatives into the highest offices of
the federal government;

Run a sprawling, opaque trading operation that could potentially be raising
the prices of the fossil fuel products it sells via the futures market;

Continue to operate major factories in Russia, ignoring sanctions and a
murderous regime waging an unprovoked war on Ukraine, until a pressure
campaign forced it to say it will look for an exit strategy;

Fund a sprawling network of taxpayer-subsidized front groups to deny
climate change and foment hate;

Provide funding to groups involved in sending a mob to attack the seat of
government of its own home country on January 6;

Fund groups that use dark money and propaganda to put lifetime justices on
the highest court to pass legislation friendly to the fossil fuels
conglomerate.

Congressman Mike Johnson is also a propagandist for Donald Trump. Below is
a sampling of what he has posted on his Twitter (X) page in the past:

Tweets by Congressman Mike Johnson

Johnson and his wife, Kelly, who calls herself a “pastoral counselor,” have
their own podcast, “Truth Be Told,” which panders to the religious right
while attempting to prop up the political career of Donald Trump. (Multiple
episodes start out with a few minutes of unknown voices saying how smart
Johnson is and how wonderful the couple is. So much for humility. Trump’s
voice can also be heard in this opening saying, “Mike Johnson, what a great
guy.”)

In an August 25, 2023 podcast, Johnson called charges against Donald Trump
“bogus charges,” implied that the U.S. Department of Justice did not have a
case against Trump but had instead been “weaponized” against a political
candidate. Johnson also potentially tainted the jury pools that will hear
criminal cases against Trump by declaring “it’s not racketeering,” “it’s
not a crime.”

Johnson has a law degree and has been a practicing attorney in the past. He
should know better than to make such statements in advance of seeing the
evidence that is presented at trial.
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