Big oil pumps $1 billion into anti-climate change lobbying, execs laugh about Trump access

[CousinIT]

https://electrek.co/2019/03/25/big-oil-climate-lobbying/

Major oil companies have spent $1 billion on climate lobbying that is “overwhelmingly in conflict” with the Paris Agreement, according to one new report. And another report reveals oil execs laughing about their newfound access within the Trump administration.

While many oil companies have made a public show of their green energy investments, InfluenceMap reports that ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and Total have used more than $1 billion in shareholder funds since the Paris Agreement on “misleading climate-related branding and lobbying.” These efforts are “designed to maintain the social and legal license to operate and expand fossil fuel operations.”

InfluenceMap used its own methodology “using best-available disclosures and intensive research of corporate messaging” to come up with its total estimate for climate lobbying and branding.

Catherine Howarth, chief executive of London-based responsible investment charity ShareAction, didn’t pull any punches when asked to comment on the report:

“InfluenceMap’s research confirms a widely held suspicion that Big Oil’s glossy sustainability reports and shiny climate statements are all rhetoric and no action. These companies have mastered the art of corporate doublespeak – by boasting about their climate credentials while quietly using their lobbying firepower to sabotage the implementation of sensible climate policy and pouring millions into groups that engage in dirty lobbying on their behalf.”

. . .

Reveal notes that since the IPAA created its “wish list,” the Interior Department has granted nearly all its requests, including:

Rescinding fracking rules meant to control water pollution
Withdrawing rules that limit climate change-causing methane gas releases
Abandoning environmental restoration of public land damaged by oil development
Ending long-standing protections for migratory birds

[Vinca]

1. Imagine all the piles of gold left when the earth is uninhabitable.