Samantha Page and Josh Israel write—The Kochs, Big Oil Are Taking Their War With The EPA To The Ballot Box:
[The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA)] is a Washington, D.C.-based political organization dedicated to electing and re-electing Republicans across the nation to be state attorneys general — and to supporting their efforts to fight “federal encroachment” and to promote “free markets.”
RAGA has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars this election cycle in support of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes (R) and, through its Mountaineers Are Always Free state PAC, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R), though the group claims both races are “safe for the incumbent party.”
Thus far in the 2015-2016 cycle, RAGA has disclosed about $19 million in contributions received.
So where did RAGA get its money? More than $2.4 million — about 13 percent — came from Koch Industries, Murray Energy, the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, and other fossil fuel interests. Another nearly $1.4 million came from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which receives a significant amount of its funds from fossil fuel companies and Koch-backed nonprofits. [...]
At the moment, several state attorneys general are fighting the EPA's Clean Power Plan, a rule that seeks to limit emissions from the electricity sector. It is expected to be one of the country's strongest tools to help meet goals under the Paris Agreement and avoid the catastrophic implications of a 2°C rise in global temperatures. There are also state-led lawsuits again the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which is expected to protect drinking water for one out of every three Americans, and against a rule to limit methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
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