Are the Koch brothers behind NC's anti-science legislation?

The Magic 8-Ball says "very likely, and you don't have to shake me so hard":

Rouzer's talking points—that the science of climate change and sea level rise is debatable—mirrored those not only of NC-20, but also of the rhetoric spouted by right-wing, anti-regulation, climate-change deniers. Not coincidentally, many of these organizations, including the Heartland Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, have ties to the fossil fuel industry.

And for those who deny the deniers are involved in our local denial movement, here's your connection:

Thompson was quick to distance NC-20 from those groups. "We're not guilty by association," he said.

But those associations are real, and they pass through NC-20's science adviser, John Droz Jr., a former real estate developer with a master's degree in solid state science (see chart below). A senior fellow at the American Tradition Institute, which counts among its experts and fellows many fossil fuel proponents, Droz masterminded a confidential nationwide strategy to undermine public support for wind power, according to an article in The Guardian published last month.

"[Droz] advises us," Thompson said. "He doesn't speak for our whole organization." Droz could not be reached by Indy seeking comment.

And this denial of the industry-funded denier's direct influence sounds exactly like every other organization that drinks from the tainted pond's denial of influence.

Which creates just enough confusion for people like Rouzer to get idiotic bills passed.