Research | Libel's Affairs of the State

David Koch

David H. Koch, a former cancer patient (wonder why) and polluter extraordinaire, donated $100 million to build a Cancer Research Center at MIT and gives an additional $211 million to help research efforts. I’m impressed, but his company and its free pollution scheme are part of the cause of the disease its self.

I posted a few time in the past week that his company was one of the many who were lobbying against clean air acts, but Georgia Pacific (owned by Koch Industries) has taken a significant effort in to prevent formaldehyde from being listed as a carcinogen. A 2009 study conducted by the National Cancer Institute concluded that it increases the risk for leukemia:

The study tracked twenty-five thousand patients for an average of forty years; subjects exposed to higher amounts of formaldehyde had significantly higher rates of leukemia. These results helped lead an expert panel within the National Institutes of Health to conclude that formaldehyde should be categorized as a known carcinogen, and be strictly controlled by the government.

This seems to be a conflict of interest for David and it is not the only example; earlier this week one of his in the pocket republicans stated that “pollution doesn’t affect the health of humans“; when years of research prove otherwise and common logic tells us that we aren’t meant to eat, drink, breathe factory foulness.

This is simply irrational. If one was really interested in helping the cancer fight; then logic would assume that they would be on the side of eliminating causes of cancer. Additionally, this is the same kind of backward thinking that Walker demonstrates with his cuts to Medicaid and increases to in funding for destitute funerals. People want to avoid getting sick; not maybe have a chance at being more comfortable during their chemo treatments or maybe be saved by this new technology.