David Koch's Legacy

“Billionaire industrialist David H. Koch, who with his older brother Charles poured a fortune into right-wing causes, transforming the American political landscape and shaping U.S. policies on such issues as climate change and government regulation, died Friday at 79." (AP News)

The left is critical of Koch’s legacy, in particular his resistance to action on climate change.

“When billionaire libertarian David Koch died this week following a decades-long battle with prostate cancer, the Arctic was rapidly melting. The Amazon rainforest was on fire. And the Earth had just experienced its hottest month in recorded human history. These planetary conditions mimicked closely what scientists had tried to warn the public about 30 years ago, when they first sounded the alarm on climate change. They were also the warnings Koch worked most of his career to make sure the American public never accepted, nor did anything about.” (Emily Atkin, New Republic)

The right celebrates Koch’s philanthropic legacy, and points out his disagreements with conservative orthodoxy.

Koch “was a tireless champion of the poor and practiced what he preached. He poured his personal wealth into funding research against cancer and expanding hospitals. He supported the arts in New York and elsewhere providing many of his critics with gainful employment on brilliantly lit stages… His passing is a loss for the nation and the millions of people who benefited from his personal generosity. David Koch lived his life practicing what he preached — allowing the free market to elevate mankind in their own industry with their own self-appointed destiny and allowing mankind to then help others unrestrained by a jealous and covetous government. The government may have gone to war against poverty, but David Koch actually elevated people out of poverty.” (Erick Erickson, The Resurgent)