Chris Svarstad, Yankton

South Dakotans have always been fiercely independent, but the out-of-state oil and tar sand billionaires, Charles and David Koch, are trying to buy South Dakota’s future.

The Koch brothers have promised to spend $900 million to influence the 2016 election cycle and support Republican candidates who have sold out their political souls to advance the Koch brothers’ radical agenda. But the Koch brothers aren’t satisfied with simply buying government officials. They now want to dictate S.D.’s energy policy.

The Koch brothers’ decision to spend their vast fortune and force their extreme agenda into local issues should concern every South Dakotan. The Mount Rushmore State should control its own future. The Koch brothers and their devoted Republican followers are only interested in policies that make the middle class poorer, damage the environment and shut down investments in clean, renewable energy — and help them make more money with their chemical, tar sand, oil and coal businesses.

This isn’t the first time the Koch brothers have tried to buy S.D. They’ve used their deep pockets and shadowy organizations to try to upend the state’s open primary process. They’ve tried to dissuade young South Dakotans with bribes to stay out of the state’s health exchanges. They’ve fought attempts to expand Medicaid and used their Republican slaves in the Legislature to undermine labor unions.

The Koch brothers are committed to turning the Mount Rushmore State into a safe haven for their own corporate interests at the expense of all South Dakotans.

And, S.D. isn’t the only state being targeted. The Koch brothers have dumped filthy oil and tar sand money into local issues throughout the country. In Colorado Springs, Colo., they attacked a Republican mayor for trying to raise the sales tax to fix potholes and improve roads. In Nashville, Tenn., they battled to stop a mass-transit plan. In Ohio, they fought the Columbus Zoo to save one of their nearby plants from paying its fair share of taxes. And that’s not mentioning the list of states where Koch-backed groups have aggressively fought local incentives for renewable energy that compete with the Kochs’ fossil fuel empire.

The good people of S.D. and people throughout the country must see through this shameful attempt to subvert our democratic process. It’s time we let these two power-hungry billionaires know that S.D., the White House, the country and the future of our environment are not for sale.