Koch Industries (and the Family) - Part 7

Frederick R Koch is the eldest of the four Koch brothers, and is a well known art and history collector, as well as a philanthropist.  Unlike his father and three brothers, who studied chemical engineering at MIT and pursued business careers. Frederick studied humanities at Harvard College.  He enlisted in the US Navy, and served in Millington, Tennessee and aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. After serving his time in the Navy, Frederick attended the Yale School of Drama, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1961.  He has assembled large and important collections of rare books, literary and musical manuscripts, fine arts, photographs, and decorative arts.  He has also purchased as restored multiple famous buildings throughout Europe and the United States.
  William I Koch is the fraternal twin of David.  he studied chemical engineering at MIT and has his own company, Oxbow Carbon LLC.  The last estimate said the company was worth about $4 billion.  Oxbow LLC sells the following products: sulfur, sulfuric acid, fertilizer, coal, petroleum coke, calcined petroleum coke, metallurgical coke, activated carbon, and gypsum.  They provide logistics and transporting services for their products via rail, barge, and trucking.  They own a coal mine in Somerset, Colorado, alongside the Gunnison River - which is currently not operating due to seismic activity.  They have shipping terminals in Long Beach, California; Texas City, Texas; Tecop, Brazil; as well as three terminals in the Netherlands, three terminals in France, one terminal in Germany, one in Belgium, and one each in the United Kingdom and Mexico (on the Gulf coast).  Oxbow also sells "value added services,"  which includes calcining; bagging, screening and distribution; and briquetting their product to your specification.

 Perhaps I really don't have any good reason to dislike the Koch brothers, Koch Industries, or Oxbow Carbon LLC.  But it truly bothers me that they have their fingers in so many pies - I am not against their diversification of their businesses.  What bothers me is how much money is secretly and anonymously given to so many widely varied institutes, foundations, and grass-roots groups.  I'll never even make $500,000 in my lifetime (and I'm starting to push 60) - let alone the millions and billions these men play with.  Am I jealous of their prosperity?  I don't think so.  It would be nice to have a couple of million dollars, but then I'd have to worry about taxes and donations and people wanting things given to them.
   Perhaps because I grew up during the time the "Sunshine Laws" were passed in Florida, requiring transparency in governing, I believe that we should all know who is paying for political advertisements - not just the, "Hi. I'm Silly Smith and I want you to vote for me" ads, but the ones that urge people to support, or be against, specific items that will eventually affect the entire world.
   Yes, I'm a liberal Democrat.  I'm against the Keystone XL Pipeline, and I'm for Obamacare.  I want cleaner air for me and my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  I don't believe we should despoil our world to get a dirtier type of energy (tar sands).  I believe we should re-use, re-cycle, and return.  We need to make better use of hydro-electricity, solar  and wind energies.
  I do not like the way the Koch brothers hide behind so many differently named "shield" and "shell" groups.  They should stand up and admit to which monies go where, how much money, and be done with it.  Or will they be thought to be megalomaniacs who want to take over the world?

I found all of this information in books, newspapers and magazines, as well as posted on the internet.

For further reading about the Koch brothers and Koch Industries, please sample the following:

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120510/koch-industries-brothers-tar-sands-bitumen-heavy-oil-flint-pipelines-refinery-alberta-canada

http://www.channelingreality.com/Temp_Dir/Reason_Koch/Koch%20Oil.pdf

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2014/06/daniel-schulman-koch-brothers

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2014/05/frederick-koch-brothers

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blood-and-oil/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2012/12/05/bad-blood-meet-bill-and-fred-the-other-two-koch-brothers/

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/koch-brothers-palm-springs-donor-list

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29rich.html?_r=0

http://webreprints.djreprints.com/3365550225628.pdf  -   Charles Koch's op-ed

The Colorado Wildfires

While the news about Boulder's fires and the High Park fire fire have gotten better, the news from the Waldo Canyon fire has gotten a little worse.  Both the Flagstaff and Ironing Board fires are under control, and unless we encounter an unusual storm or wind event, there is little to concern Boulderites other than the air quality...  The High Park fire looks as if it might be contained by July 1 - with only one human casualty and the loss of 257 homes.  The High Park Fire is estimated at 87,284 acres, meaning the fire has not grown for two days. Containment is now estimated at 85 percent. The estimated containment date has been moved up from July 15th to July 1st. The current cost of the fire to date is estimated at 36.4 million dollars. There are 1,125 personnel assigned to the firefighting effort. Equipment resources include: 3 Type 1 hand crews, 9 Type 2 hand crews, 79 engines, 9 dozers and 12 water tenders. Air Resources include; 3 Type I (heavy) helicopters, 4 Type III (light) helicopters, fixed wing support aircraft, and available heavy air tankers.

 (It should be noted that "containment" means that a containment line exists around the fire, which fire managers believe will hold the fire within the perimeter. "Control" means that the fire is actually out which, on a fire of this magnitude, typically requires an act of nature such as prolonged rain or snowfall. Islands of fire will continue to burn within the perimeter during the containment phase and residents should expect to see smoke for days, weeks, and even months as the fire moves from containment to control.

  The Waldo Canyon fire has claimed 348 homes, one life, and there are two people reported missing.  President Obama has declared the state of Colorado a disaster area due to the wildfires, and will fly over the Waldo Canyon fire sometime today.  It has been, and will continue to be, a horrible time for home-owners and families.  The up-dated facts on theWaldo Canyon fire:

Size: 18,500 acres and growing
5% containment.
100s of homes burned
Hwy 24 Closed in Ute Pass/Waldo Canyon
36,000 evacuated
1,200 firefighters (plus CSFD & other local agencies)
Military helping with heavy machinery/dozers

 

All of us owe a very great deal to the wonderful fire fighters who are fighting the flames of these fires throughout the state. 

 

If you would like to make a donation for either the victims of the fires, or for the fire fighters, please visit the website for the American Red Cross at: http://www.coloradoredcross.org/  and/or the Colorado Professional Fire Fighters Foundation at: http://www.cpfffoundation.org/ 

    Thank you.