Connor Gibson

Connor Gibson

@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

Contract opposition researcher specialized in climate denial, fossil fuel lobbying, PR, front groups, and the Kochtopus. Blogs at Grassrootbeer Investigations: https://grassrootbeer.substack.com/p/grassrootbeer-investigations

1K followers530 following210 posts

Connor Gibson reposted

UCS Climate & Accountability Campaigns
@ucsclimate.bsky.social

New blog from Laura Peterson publishes emails obtained through an open records request and reveals that some groups involved in the disinformation campaign at the heart of Boulder’s climate accountability lawsuit are shopping legislation to shield the fossil fuel industry from liability.

blog.ucs.orgThe Fossil Fuel Industry’s State-by-State Strategy to Squash Accountability LawsuitsAs the US Supreme Court considers Suncor v. Boulder—a key climate accountability case—documents obtained by the Union of Concerned Scientists reveal that some groups involved in the climate disinforma...
Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

Exxon + Koch took turns leading the American Tort Reform Association, part of a strategy to immunize themselves from #climate lawsuits. (Also #opioids, #pesticides, #insurance, #socialmedia, car manufacturers, tobacco...any negligent industry facing legal accountability) Now Exxon has a guy at DOJ

DeSmog@desmog.com

🚨New🚨 A 17-year veteran of Exxon will be joining the Justice Department team that's suing states over lawsuits and laws that hold fossil fuel companies — including Exxon — accountable for climate change. What could go wrong?

buff.lyExxon’s Robert Levy Is Joining the DOJ Division That Dubs Itself 'the Nation’s Largest Environmental Law Firm'The longtime Big Oil attorney has major ties to conservative legal groups.
Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

AEI donor disclosure fail: Soros gives "slightly more than half of the foundation money to Bard College" ... AEI's data also shows Charles Koch's foundations giving 64% of GMU's funding. AEI gets many millions of dollars from Koch, where authors of this @insidehighered.com op-ed work.

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com

Opinion | How a Few Foundations Shape American Higher Education They answer only to themselves, and many mean to last forever. By Tao Tan and Howard Husock: https://bit.ly/3ReAACr #EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

Connor Gibson reposted

Becky Zosia Dernbach
@bzosiad.bsky.social

Elizabeth is a Columbia Heights fourth-grader who loves volleyball, learning English and giggling in the halls with her friends. She's been held in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center for nearly a month, and she and her mom have both fallen ill. sahanjournal.com/education/co...

sahanjournal.comSick fourth-grader among 4 Columbia Heights students held by ICEColumbia Heights Public Schools says four students remain detained by ICE after Liam’s return, including 10-year-old Elizabeth, who has fallen ill.

Connor Gibson reposted

Daniel Silliman
@danielsilliman.bsky.social

A legal asylum-seeker who works at Chipotle and plays music at a church in Maine went missing. His pastor searched and searched, eventually finding his abandoned car with the keys on the floor. ICE grabbed him. No criminal record. No explanation.

Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

Rachael Ray's Poison Pans!

Emily Atkin@emorwee.bsky.social

Celebrity chefs told Californians that PFAS-coated pans were “safe,” and successfully lobbied Gavin Newsom to veto a bill phasing them out They didn’t mention they all sell PFAS-coated pans. New joint investigation with @mirandagreen.bsky.social and @atmosmag.bsky.social is out:

heated.worldWhy are famous chefs fighting PFAS bans?The answer, in retrospect, is obvious—and it’s part of a larger campaign to stop bans on Teflon cookware nationwide.
Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

This is how Fox News attempts to Goebbels the Trump/Epstein news: crime & racist headlines up top, then Clinton/Epstein waaaaay below the fold. And then, a tiny podcast link at the very very bottom, obscured by the much larger "We Don't Deserve Trump." Exactly. Nobody deserves a pedo president.

Connor Gibson reposted

Josiah Mortimer
@josiahmortimer.bsky.social

Campaign group Everyone Hates Elon have installed a spoof tribute to Jeffrey Epstein from Donald Trump on a bench at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland. It comes after US lawmakers published an Epstein 'birthday book' with an alleged note from Trump.

Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

This country’s fascist dictator needs to dethroned immediately. His sycophants and enablers need to be put in prison with him. ICE must be destroyed and its gestapo agents unmasked and jailed. Israel’s genocide must cease. Violence is the only language these sociopaths speak - a major concern.

Connor Gibson reposted

Emily Atkin
@emorwee.bsky.social

What Republicans are doing in response to the anti-ICE protests is EXACTLY what the Dakota Access pipeline company did in response to the 2016 protests at Standing Rock Those protests saw FBI infiltration & a $660 million judgment against Greenpeace Super important to be informed on these tactics

heated.worldLessons for protesters from Standing RockThe events following the 2016 protest are urgently relevant to our current political moment.
Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

*checks notes* Charles Koch's groups gave $1.6 million to the Alliance Defending Freedom from 2020 - 2023. ADF is egregiously hateful. Mr. Mild Midwestern Manners is comfy with white christian supremacy. @yessfun.com & @emorwee.bsky.social have moar here

Emily Atkin@emorwee.bsky.social

“The opposition to climate action is using anti-trans rhetoric to build its base” A new analysis shows 80% of anti-trans groups have financial links to the fossil fuel industry, @yessfun.com reports

heated.worldFossil fuel billionaires are bankrolling the anti-trans movementAn investigation shared exclusively with Atmos and HEATED finds that 80% of anti-trans organizations receive fossil fuel funding.

Connor Gibson reposted

Gail Waldby ❌👑
@gailwaldby.bsky.social

Food Delivery Robots Are Feeding Camera Footage to the LAPD, Internal Emails Show Jason Koebler Sep 28, 2023 https://www.404media.co/serve-food-delivery-robots-are-feeding-camera-footage-to-the-lapd-internal-emails-show/

404media.coFood Delivery Robots Are Feeding Camera Footage to the LAPD, Internal Emails ShowServe Robotics, which delivers food for Uber Eats, provided footage filmed by at least one of its robots to the LAPD as evidence in a criminal case. The emails show the robots, which are a constant si...
Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

@tesla-takedown.bsky.social relevant: Musk/DOGE is basically doing what the Koch bros attempted for decades: abolish most federal agencies, reduce the government to a "night watchman" to protect the property of the rich. newrepublic.com/article/1548... www.emporiagazette.com/opinion/edit...

Connor Gibson@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

Charles Koch's fleet of organizations spent over $833 million (net) in 2023, yet another record, in an election off-year. 🧵 Read it @exposedbycmd.bsky.social: www.exposedbycmd.org/2025/05/22/k...

exposedbycmd.orgKoch Fleet of Organizations Invests More Than Ever in Expanding Its Influence - EXPOSEDbyCMDCharles Koch’s fleet of organizations spent a combined net total of $833 million in 2023 to influence public policy, elections, and certain charitable causes — marking its highest spending total to da...
Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

Meanwhile, Chase Koch is dancing on stage with Aloe Blacc on Good Morning America and taking photos with Killer Mike, earning favorable press. The Koch nonprofits that predominantly focus on real charity (no overlap with their policy/politics) is 4.5% of their total spending. 4.5 / 100 is charity.

Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

All the gory details are here. Thanks for reading! www.exposedbycmd.org/2025/05/22/k... #Koch #Politics #data #music #philanthropy #darkmoney #election #labor #unions #education #highered #climate #environment #billionaires #energy #florida #michigan #ohio #louisiana #westvirginia #indiana

exposedbycmd.orgKoch Fleet of Organizations Invests More Than Ever in Expanding Its Influence - EXPOSEDbyCMDCharles Koch’s fleet of organizations spent a combined net total of $833 million in 2023 to influence public policy, elections, and certain charitable causes — marking its highest spending total to da...
Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

#Koch nonprofit money becomes for-profit revenue: Koch's "Stand Together Communications" was paid $345M in contracts by Koch nonprofits since 2018. $107M of that was paid in 2023. Most of these entities share the same office building in Arlington, VA.

Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

What were they spending on? *Millions to ideological university hubs, feeding into Koch's policy & political work. *Attacks on labor unions *Support for climate denier politicians *Anti-abortion hate groups like the ADF *Funneling public money from public schools to private charters

Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

"net" = the total after accounting for $715 million Koch orgs spent between themselves. So the gross spending total exceeded $1.5 billion in 2023. This is the figure you get if you simply total the expenses disclosed on IRS and FEC records. Screenshot here with some of the nerdy data:

Connor Gibson reposted

Peter Gleick
@petergleick.bsky.social

He's basically saying they're considering declaring martial law and suspending the Constitution if the courts continue to rule against them. This guy is seriously the worst of them all.

Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social

Stephen Miller says they are “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which is only allowed when the US has been invaded or during an insurrection, which would not allow people to challenge their incarceration in court if they are arrested and detained.

Connor Gibson reposted

Brendan Nyhan
@brendannyhan.bsky.social

"As the government of Lesotho negotiates a trade deal with the United States, it hopes that licensing Starlink demonstrates goodwill" "In India, government officials have sped through approvals of Starlink with the understanding that doing so could help them cement trade deals w/the administration"

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com

Exclusive: A series of internal government messages obtained by The Post reveal how U.S. embassies and the State Department have pushed nations to clear hurdles for U.S. satellite companies, often mentioning Starlink by name.

wapo.stU.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk’s Starlink, cables showSome countries have turned to the satellite internet firm in preparation for trade talks, State Department staffers wrote. The U.S. has a strategic interest in countering Chinese internet providers, b...

Connor Gibson reposted

Bob Kopp
@bobkopp.net

There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵

Connor Gibson reposted

Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑
@emilylhauser.bsky.social

"The distance between the convoy and the soldiers was between 20 and 30 meters, meaning that the entire force could clearly see, even through night vision equipment, that the people were not armed militants but medical personnel." 🎁🔗 www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

haaretz.comKilling of Gaza aid workers: IDF troops fired indiscriminately for over three minutes***
Gregg Carlstrom@glcarlstrom.bsky.social

The Israeli soldiers who killed Palestinian medics last month "fired continuously for three and a half minutes – even from point-blank range – reloading their ammunition multiple times, despite attempts by the aid workers to identify themselves." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

haaretz.comKilling of Gaza aid workers: IDF troops fired indiscriminately for over three minutes***

Connor Gibson reposted

The New York Times
@nytimes.com

Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” is still on U.S. Naval Academy shelves. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Memorializing the Holocaust” are not. An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office led to a purge of books that are critical of racism — but preserved volumes defending white power.

nytimes.comWho’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library?An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office resulted in a purge of books critical of racism but preserved volumes defending white power.

Connor Gibson reposted

Insurance Fairness Project
@insurancefairness.bsky.social

Hi! Today, we’re launching the Insurance Fairness Project, a new effort to explore solutions for America’s ongoing home insurance crisis. Insurers and politicians are leaving homeowners in the lurch, even as climate disasters hit harder and more frequently than ever.

Connor Gibson
@grassrootbeer.bsky.social

I shouldn’t be surprised that the plainly conflicted and biased jurors of North Dakota sided with Energy Transfer and the wormtongues of Gibson Dunn over Greenpeace and 1st Amendment protest rights…but it’s still disgusting to see. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

theguardian.comGreenpeace must pay hundreds of millions over Dakota pipeline protests, says juryNon-profit said in statement lawsuits like this aimed at ‘destroying the right to peaceful protest’

Connor Gibson reposted

Paul Paz y Miño
@paulpaz.bsky.social

This case is about silencing dissent. It continues long-standing erasure of Native American rights, sidelining the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe—true leaders of the DAPL protest movement—while targeting anyone who dares challenge corporate billionaires & fossil fuels www.commondreams.org/opinion/big-...

commondreams.orgBig Oil’s Revenge: the Lawsuit That Could Crush Climate Activism | Common DreamsEnergy Transfer’s case against Greenpeace could redefine First Amendment rights for everyone in the U.S. It must be exposed for the grave threat it is.