Tanner Cook must not have access to a dictionary, because if he did, hed understand that libertarianism reflects an extreme hands-off political policy. Libertarians currently have found a home in the Republican Party. Cases in point: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and his father, former-presidential hopeful Ron Paul, now retired but who served in Congress representing two different Texas congressional districts. Ron held office both as a Libertarian and as a Republican. Rand prides himself on his Tea Party affiliation.

Americans for Prosperity is a libertarian-conservative political advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers, David and Charles. AFP has supported the Tea Party. David, now deceased, ran for vice president on the Libertarian ticket in 1980.

If the Kochs personify what it is to be a Libertarian, Id look elsewhere for insight if I were Cookunless, that is, Cook has no concern whatsoever for the environment. Koch Industries and its subsidiaries have a long and tarnished reputation regarding environmental stewardship, and it is mostly likely for this reason that Charles Koch abhors oversighti.e., governmental regulation.

A laissez-faire philosophy regarding the handling of fossil fuels and other industrial-grade pollutants guarantees a recipe for certain disaster. Heres one nearby example of the Kochs environmental record: In 1999, Koch Petroleum Group acknowledged that it had negligently discharged hundreds of thousands of gallons of aviation fuel into wetlands from its refinery in Rosemount, Minn., and that it had illegally dumped a million gallons of high-ammonia wastewater onto the ground and into the Mississippi River.

If thats not extreme, I guess I dont know what is.

Hulse lives in Fargo.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.

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