Shell Parts Ways With ALEC Over Climate Change

[unhappycamper]

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32285-shell-parts-ways-with-alec-over-climate-change

Shell Parts Ways With ALEC Over Climate Change
Monday, 10 August 2015 00:00 By Nick Surgey, Jamie Corey and Jessica Mason

Royal Dutch Shell announced Friday that it planned to let its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) lapse early next year, explicitly citing the organization's stance on climate change. The last oil company to cut ties with ALEC was BP in March 2015.

In a statement, a Shell spokesperson said, "ALEC advocates for specific economic growth initiatives, but its stance on climate change is clearly inconsistent with our own." The decision will make Shell the 105th corporation to cut ties with ALEC. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Shell is one of the largest oil companies in the world, with revenues of $421 billion in 2014.

The Guardian also reported today that Canadian National Railway (CNR), headquartered in Montreal, has ended its membership in ALEC, bringing the total number of companies to have abandoned the controversial organization to 106. CNR, a major transporter of coal, has not made a public statement regarding its decision.

Shell has been under pressure to cut ties to ALEC over the organization's role in promulgating climate science denial in direct contradiction to Shell's own official position. In 2014 Google chair Eric Schmidt accused the organization of "literally lying" about climate change and quit ALEC, prompting an exodus of high-tech firms.