Originally posted to Polluterwatch
Senator James Inhofe
James Inhofe, the Senator from Oklahoma, is one of the most outspoken and bombastic deniers of climate change and attackers of science, bar none. He tried to criminally investigate 17 climate scientists whose emails were hacked and leaked. He “wrote” a “book” called The Greatest Hoax, about climate change. He compares the EPA to the Gestapo. He also receives a huge percentage of his campaign money from the fossil fuel sector. Most of the rest comes from arms manufacturers. James Inhofe is exactly the kind of politician that has stopped any meaningful action of climate change in the United States.
And Google just threw him a fundraiser at their Washington DC Lobbying Headquarters.
Google has made lots of promises along their rise to global dominance of the internet. One of them is their motto “don’t be evil.” Another is to do their part to head off climate change. To that end, Google has invested in data centers powered by renewable energy and publicly promoted solutions to global warming. Google’s Executive Chairman has made strong statements against climate change science deniers, saying You can hold back knowledge. You cannot prevent it from spreading. You can lie about the effects of climate change, but eventually you’ll be seen as a liar.
That’s why more than 12,000 people signed a petition asking Google not to fund Senator Inhofe. And when Google decided to hold the fundraiser anyway, people gathered outside of Google’s DC office. Activists even made it in to Google’s office, to ask Google employees their thoughts on funding such an outspoken enemy of the environment.
Inhofe’s response?
To fund raise off “upsetting the environmentalists” and Google’s support. See Senator Inhofe’s gloating email:
This is why we can’t let corporations like Google and the enormous wealth that they bring with them to continue to support politicians like Inhofe. Sign this petition and tell Google to stop funding Inhofe’s climate change lies.
