It isn't because they're climate experts. Today, we'll look at the rarely publicized ties of syndicated columnist Walter E. Williams who scoffs at man-related climate change.

"The very idea that mankind can make significant parametric changes to the earth has to be the height of arrogance," Williams recently wrote in Worshiping at the altar of global warming. His columns advertise him as a "distinguished professor of economics."

Besides teaching at George Mason University (and occasionally filling in for Fox TV's Rush Limbaugh) Williams is one of 5 directors for the Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF). AFPF is the offspring of Americans for Prosperity" (AFP). AFP, a right wing think tank, was originally called Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) Foundation. CSE was founded in the 1990's by David H. Koch of Koch Industries. Koch Industries, based in Wichita, is probably the largest, privately owned company in the country.

Among its diverse holdings are Koch Pipeline Co.; Koch Refining Co.; Koch Fertilizer, LLC; and Flint Hills Resources (formerly Koch Petroleum Group). David Koch and his brother Charles G. Koch are tied at 9th on a list of the richest 400 U.S. citizens. (George Soros, the right wing's villain on the left, is 15th)

David Koch himself is the president of the board at the AFPF Foundation. Wayne Gable, a Washington lobbyist for Koch Industries also serves on the AFPF.

Nancy Pfotenhauer, a former graduate assistant to Walter E. Williams, previously headed the Washington, D.C., office of Koch Industries. She was an executive vice president at CSE before it became Americans for Prosperity, and president of AFP from 2003 to 2007. Then she became energy adviser to John McCain,, advocating lifting the ban on off-shore drilling... and poo-poo'ing global warming.

George Mason University, and particularly its Mercatus Center, a deregulatory think tank, benefit handsomely from the Koch Foundation. In fact, according to LittleSis.org ( a public accountability project sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation), "a Koch family foundation has given Mercatus and George Mason University a total of $14.4 million since 1998." That's according to public documents analyzed by the Public Education Center, a Washington group tracking environmental issues. A Koch spokesman says about half of the money went to Mercatus.

"In addition, the company's chief executive, Charles Koch, donated interests in limited partnerships to Mercatus that the think tank sold last year for $6.1 million. Mr. Koch is a Mercatus director."

Robert D. Feinman, an independent researcher who died last July reported that "...three Koch foundations contributed $23,030,497 between 1985 and 2002 to the university, its foundation and its Institute for Human Studies." Obviously, the oil-rich Koch family is not a small player at George Mason University where Walter E. Williams works. William's column is carried in 140 U.S. newspapers as well as internet sites. Useful, eh?

Global warming deniers belong to predictable species, often interbred. One, the fossil fuels industry and those invested in them. Two, the broader for-profit corporate structure which oppose most government regulation. Three, libertarians who would reduce government to protecting civil liberties and providing defense. Finally, religious fundamentalists who believe only God can influence the climate, pumped up by TV windbags like John Hagee and Pat Robertson.

With the hot prospect of ice vanishing from the northern polar cap and serious money to be made in the aftermath, those whose central religion is power and profit want to stall regulation - no matter the science, no matter the long term environmental and societal consequences. It's no surprise that AFP is now sponsoring a calculated, cynical "balloon tour" to challenge "global warming hysteria."

James Hogan at the Huffington Post writes, "The AFP is an organization that has received millions of dollars in funding over the years from the Koch Family Foundations. Koch Industries Inc., is the largest private energy company in the United States and a major Big Oil force. When it comes to funding the right-wing think tanks and the climate denial industry, Koch makes ExxonMobil look like a minor player."

Believe me, fellow Americans, that's the tip of the melting iceberg.

Next time, we'll take a look at Williams' claims about the science