Speaking of evangelical Christianity and environmentalism: In this midst of this unspeakably horrific story about Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), the Congressional champion of evangelicals, comes this revealing passage:
Brownback is less concerned about the world being polluted by people. His biggest financial backer is Koch Industries, an oil company that ranks among America’s largest privately held companies. "The Koch folks," as they’re known around the senator’s office, are among the nation’s worst polluters. In 2000, the company was slapped with the largest environmental civil penalty in U.S. history for illegally discharging 3 million gallons of crude oil in six states. That same year Koch was indicted for lying about its emissions of benzene, a chemical linked to leukemia, and dodged criminal charges in return for a $20 million settlement. Brownback has received nearly $100,000 from Koch and its employees, and during his neck-and-neck race in 1996, a mysterious shell company called Triad Management provided $410,000 for last-minute advertising on Brownback’s behalf. A Senate investigative committee later determined that the money came from the two brothers who run Koch Industries.
Brownback has been a staunch opponent of environmental regulations that Koch finds annoying, fighting fuel-efficiency standards and the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
Whatever substance there is in the alleged growth of “creation care,” it doesn’t seem to have reached the upper levels of the evangelical movement — the people who, you know, have power.
