The US’ oil, gas and coal industry has increased its lobbying budget by 50 percent, with key players spending US$44.5 million in the first three months of this year in an intense effort to cut off support for US President Barack Obama’s plan to build a clean energy economy.
The spoiler campaign runs to hundreds of millions of dollars and involves industry front groups, lobbying firms, television, print and radio advertising, and donations to pivotal members of Congress.
Its intention is to water down or kill off plans by the Democratic leadership to pass “cap and trade” legislation this year, which would place limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
A defeat for the bill would have global consequences. The international community is depending on the US, as the world’s biggest per capita polluter, to set out a firm plan for getting off dirty fuels in the months before crucial UN negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
Without such action, the chances of getting a deal that scientists say is vital to limiting dangerous climate change are much reduced.
Those high stakes have intensified the fight for control over the US’ energy future.
“There are an awful lot of people who have an awful lot to gain and lose and they have been acting accordingly,” said Evan Tracey, founder of the Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), who has tracked the proliferation of climate change ads.
But it is an unequal contest. Liberal and environmental organizations, as well as the major corporations that support climate change legislation, say they are being vastly outspent by fossil fuel interests.
“These guys are spending a billion dollars this year convincing Americans that they are clean, green, cuddly and warm,” said Bob Perkowitz, founder of the eco-America public relations firm.
Perkowitz is to brief the White House on Monday on a new environmental messaging strategy.
“The enviros are getting their message out, but they are being outspent by 10 to one,” he said.
On advertising, the ratio is about three to one. The oil and coal industry spent US$76.1 million on ads from Jan. 1 to April 27, according to CMAG data seen by the Guardian.
Environmental groups, led by former US vice president Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club, spent US$28.6 million on ads in the same period, Tracey said.
Despite its global significance, the fate of the draft “cap and trade” bill now lies in the hands of just a dozen Democrats, who have yet to back Obama’s energy transformation.
The Democratic leadership cannot take their support for granted. Seven of those pivotal Democrats received campaign donations in excess of US$100,000 from the oil and gas industry, coal producers, and electricity firms during last year’s elections, an analysis provided to the Guardian by the Center for Responsive Politics showed. Another two received more than US$90,000 last year.
Environmentalists say those Democrats, who hold the balance of power on the committee, pose a far greater threat to the chances of passing climate change legislation than a full vote in the House of Representatives.
“If they can get that bill through the subcommittee what is going to emerge is a piece of legislation,” said Tony Kreindler of the Environmental Defense Fund. “So this is ground zero for the vote.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS