Just when a sensible person is ready to throw in the towel on The Los Angeles Times, figuring it no longer has the will or the resources to cover national news, on Sunday they put on the front page a first-rate story that reveals how the multi-billionaire Koch brothers, aka The Kochtopus, have come to control the House committee on regulation of fossil fuels, aka the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Wichita-based Koch Industries and its employees formed the largest single oil and gas donor to members of the panel, ahead of giants like Exxon Mobil, contributing $279,500 to 22 of the committee's 31 Republicans, and $32,000 to five Democrats.
Nine of the 12 new Republicans on the panel signed a pledge distributed by a Koch-founded advocacy group — Americans for Prosperity — to oppose the Obama administration's proposal to regulate greenhouse gases. Of the six GOP freshman lawmakers on the panel, five benefited from the group's separate advertising and grass-roots activity during the 2010 campaign.
Claiming an electoral mandate, Republicans on the committee have launched an agenda of the sort long backed by the Koch brothers. A top early goal: restricting the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Kochs' core energy businesses.
It's quite astounding. For just $20,000, they flipped Fred Upton, the committee chair.
Perhaps the Kochs' most surprising and important ally on the committee is its new chairman, Rep. Fred Upton. The Republican from Michigan, who was once criticized by conservatives for his middle-of-the-road approach to environmental issues, is now leading the effort to rein in the EPA.
Upton received $20,000 in donations from Koch employees in 2010, making them among his top 10 donors in that cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Upton has gone corporate, in the words of Climate Progress. Well, that's one way to put it.
It's interesting to compare the headlines chosen by the newspaper for the web edition [Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power] vs. the dulled print edition [Conservative duo reach seat of power].
How about something simpler, more truthful?
Koch Brothers Buy House Energy Committee, GOP members
Meanwhile, as Andrew Leonard points out for Salon, the Obama administration has shown no sign of backing down on EPA regulation of greenhouse gases, not with a green light from the Supreme Court.
Kit Stolz 
Very recently, the Los Angeles times has been consistently improving the columns, and the reason is a new editorial staff in place.
Regards,
Rick
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