You may not know very much about the Koch brothers, but I can guarantee you probably use their products. Their massive conglomerate, based in Wichita, Kan., produces items like Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups and even Lycra — I’m looking at you, stereotypical sorority girl with tights. And much of the brothers’ personal wealth goes toward fighting for their beliefs.

This includes not only patronage for various upper-crust philanthropies like the American Ballet Theatre, but also an estimated $100 million fight for right-wing causes, especially their right to pollute our atmosphere without recrimination.

Greenpeace has listed Koch Industries as one of the Top 10 air polluters in the country, and records indicate the Koch brothers have spent millions supporting various think tanks, foundations and political front groups that attempt to cast doubt on the well-supported and generally agreed upon theory of human-induced climate change.

This is what our political system is starting to look like in a post-Citizens United world, where ‘corporate free speech’ is the doublespeak term for companies that buy favorable politicians and are then given the chance to shape their own regulations. Oil companies have done it with offshore drilling, and now industrial giants and the billionaires who run them effectively get to leverage our Congress so it works for their bottom line. This is while our oceans heat up, and the only natural environment we will likely ever know as a species is ravaged. Thankfully there’s one way to fight such influence, and that’s a good ol’ fashioned boycott.

Our economy is responsive to public opinion only if there are conscientious consumers who care about how a product gets made (organic, fair trade, locally grown, etc.) and where the profits get invested. I happen to think the theory of human-induced climate change is pretty solidly supported, so when various pseudo-academics find slight incongruities and get a paycheck from people who are interested in perpetuating such climate change skepticism, I am personally appalled.

Charles Lewis, the founder of the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity said, ‘The Kochs are on a whole different level. There’s no one else who has spent this much money. The sheer dimension of it is what sets them apart. They have a pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation and obfuscation. I’ve been in Washington since Watergate, and I’ve never seen anything like it. They are the Standard Oil of our times.’

Screw that, this country deserves better than billionaires buying public opinion, so if you’re interested in actively protesting their political manipulation, check out the Facebook page called ‘Boycott and Defeat Koch Industries’ for a list of products to try and avoid.

If you’d also like to force companies to abide by environmentally friendly guidelines, start researching them online and hold them accountable. Places like American Apparel, for example, pride themselves in their sweatshop-free credentials.

There ought to be a consumer revolt against companies that pollute our air and water, companies that work to buy politicians, companies that actively exploit our natural resources unnecessarily, in pursuit of material profits.

Let’s take them down, one brand name at a time.

Luke Lanciano is a junior political science major. His column appears every Tuesday, and he can be reached at lllancia@syr.edu.

Published on September 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm