A Billionaire Climate Conspiracy… Now Corrupting Elected Officials on Long Island First, their climate destroying policies and denial of climate change science

helped cause billions of dollars in damage on Long Island during Hurricane

Sandy.

Now, with Election Day just months away, three super-wealthy individual donors who made huge fortunes in the multi-billion-dollar fossil fuel industry are trying to buy Long Island’s elected officials.

According to campaign finance reports, almost half of the total

“housekeeping” funds raised by the New York State Republican Party

since the beginning of this year have come from only from three

individuals: oil industry billionaire David Koch, hedge-fund billionaire and

charter-school backer Paul Singer, and Charles Joyce, president of a

pipeline company and a proponent of fracking in New York state.1

These three wealthy donors have personally profited from dirty energy,

funded climate denials, and blocked action on climate that could lead us

to clean energy economy and create good jobs for Long Island.

Now they are taking over the state Republican Party to try to ensure the

reelection of Republican State Senators on Long Island so that fossil-fuels-

forever policies that will continue to line their pockets with profits while our

climate crisis continues to explode.

THE BILLIONAIRES' CLIMATE CONSPIRACY... ● Personally profiting from dirty energy:

○ Paul Singer’s hedge fund, Elliott Associates, has more than

14% of its holdings invested in the energy sector, according to

recent SEC filings. Elliott’s fossil fuel company holdings

include: Hess Corporation, Centerpoint Energy, and Noble

1 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/3-mega-donors-fund-nys-gop-article-1.2724148

Energy. Elliott’s shares in energy companies total more than

$1.1 billion combined.2

○ Charles Joyce is the president of Otis Eastern Service, LLC

which builds pipelines designed to transport oil and natural

gas.3 Joyce also serves as national committeeman for the New

York Republican Party.4

○ David Koch is the heir to the Koch Industries fortune, based on

refineries, chemicals, oil and gas trading and specialty

processing of high-carbon tar sands oil.5

● Funding climate denial:

○ The Koch Brothers have directed at least $88 million to 80

groups denying climate change science since 1997.6

○ Paul Singer is the chairman of the Manhattan Institute, a right

wing think tank with a history of giving voice to climate change

denialists.7

● Blocking action on clean energy:

○ Joyce has repeatedly defended fracking in New York state,

including holding a demonstration to “show how the clean the

water is when it comes out of the ground” in the Southern

Tier8, appearing in person at county meetings to defend

2 http://hedgeclippers.org/hedgepapers/hedgepapers-no-28-hedge-funds-and-fossil-fuels 3 https://pgjonline.com/2013/09/06/charlie-joyce-born-and-raised-to-be-a-pipeliner/ 4 http://newyork.gop/joyce 5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries 6 http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/climate-deniers/koch-industries/ 7 http://hedgeclippers.org/hedgepapers/paul-singer 8 http://www.wellsvilledaily.com/article/20120817/NEWS/308179987

fracking9, and speaking out against Gov. Cuomo’s fracking ban

in 2014.10

○ In 2016, the New York State Assembly passed the “New York

State Climate and Community Protection Act, which was called

“The Nation’s Most Ambitious Climate Bill”11 Despite also

winning the support of a majority of State Senators, the bill was

not brought to the floor for a vote by the Republican

Leadership.

...NOW CORRUPTING POLITICIANS ON LONG ISLAND:

● Funding a takeover of State GOP to advance fossil-fuels-forever policies:

○ Almost half of the $663,706 total raised by the NY

State Republican Party in 2016 for its "housekeeping

account" has come from Koch, Singer, and Joyce.

○ David Koch gave the state Republican housekeeping

committee $100,000 on April 20, Paul Singer donated

$100,000, and Charles Joyce contributed $100,000,

while an LLC Joyce created donated another

$30,000.12 9 http://www.wellsvilledaily.com/article/20130226/NEWS/302269797 10 https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/hornell_evening_tribune_frackingban_A01_A07_0.pdf 11 http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/06/02/3784079/new-york-climate-bill/ 12 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/3-mega-donors-fund-nys-gop-article-1.2724148