Koch and the environment
Koch Industries is a major polluter, with ongoing incidents and violations of environmental laws. Even when complying with the law, Koch companies can get away with heavy pollution.

Evidence published by Mother Jones senior editor Daniel Schulman in Sons of Wichita, the first biography on the Koch family, includes accusations from former Koch employees that violations of environmental law were systematic up to the highest levels of management. Koch’s resistance to federal investigations of environmental violations went as far as spying on federal officials involved in lawsuits against Koch. In discussions of possibly making Koch a publicly-traded company, a lawyer for Koch warned that taking the public would land all of Koch’s executives and board members in jail.

The inability of Koch companies to avoid pollution incidents stands in contrast with Charles Koch’s “Guiding Principles” of his trademarked corporate management theory, “Market-Based Management,” which states, “Strive for 10,000% compliance with all laws and regulations, which requires 100% of employees fully complying 100% of the time.” This also excludes from consideration the ways in which Koch is permitted to legally pollute.

See also PolluterWatch profiles of Koch Industries, Charles Koch and David Koch.