Not only do we have the fossil fuel industry to thank for polluting our air and water and ruining the climate, they have also damaged our justice system.
Why has so much money gone into promoting particular judges for the Supreme Court? The motivation goes far beyond reproductive rights and marriage equality, according to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse:
“A lot of this money, I’m convinced is polluter money. The Koch Industries is a polluter. The fossil fuel industry is a polluter. Who else would be putting buckets of money into this, and wanting to hide who they are behind Donors Trust and other schemes? And if you’re a big polluter, what do you want? You want weak regulatory agencies. You want ones that you can box up, and run over to Congress and get your friends to fix things for you in Congress.”
This particular quote is found at the 24 minutes mark in Sen. Whitehouse’s speech at the Amy Coney Barrett hearing on October 13, 2020. You can watch his full presentation (with charts!) here. It is eye-opening.