Hill Heat: Center for Public Integrity: Corporate Interests Dominate Climate Change LobbyingScience Policy Legislation Actiontag:www.hillheat.com,2005:TypoTypo2009-03-03T10:32:03-05:00Wonk Roomurn:uuid:191ef567-2cca-4804-9e5d-97c890bb81132009-02-26T10:30:00-05:002009-03-03T10:32:03-05:00Center for Public Integrity: Corporate Interests Dominate Climate Change Lobbying<p><i>From the <a href='http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/02/25/pollution-climate-lobbyists/'>Wonk Room</a>.</i></p>
<p>The Center for Public Integrity has found that “<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/articles/entry/1171/">more than 770 companies</a> and interest groups hired an estimated 2,340 lobbyists to influence federal policy on climate change in the past year,” estimating total expenditures of $90 million. Their <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/">comprehensive investigation of climate lobbying</a> discovered that nearly 2,000 of the lobbyists represent corporate interests.</p>
<center><a href='http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/climate-change-chart2b.jpg'><img src='http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/climate-change-chart2b_s.PNG' alt='Climate Change Lobbyists' /></a></center>
<span class="caps">CPI</span> found that the top climate lobbying shop was the <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/tag/accce">American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</a> (ACCCE), a coal-industry front group that spent $10.5 million lobbying Congress:
<blockquote><strong>No group exemplifies the sophistication of the current debate more than the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</strong> — a new lobbying organization unveiled just weeks before the vote last June on the Warner-Lieberman bill. Representing 48 mining firms, coal-hauling railroads and coal-burning power companies, <strong><span class="caps">ACCCE</span> spent $10.5 million lobbying Capitol Hill on climate in 2008</strong> — more than any other organization solely dedicated to the issue. In addition to the group’s president, Steven Miller, a one-time aide to former Democratic Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones, and vice president Joe Lucas, who was an aide to former Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary, <span class="caps">ACCCE</span> has at least 15 outside lobbyists, including former White House Counsel Quinn. <strong>The big effort is not surprising, since electricity is the largest single source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and the most carbon-intensive fuel, coal, provides half the nation’s power</strong>. But <span class="caps">ACCCE</span>’s position is that it supports a mandatory federal program to curb the emissions its own members produce—as long as the policy meets <span class="caps">ACCCE</span>’s set of principles for keeping electricity affordable, domestically produced, and reliable. <strong>And that means encouraging, in <span class="caps">ACCCE</span>’s words, “robust utilization of coal.”</strong></blockquote>
<p>Check out the “<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/">The Climate Change Lobby</a>” site, including a searchable database of lobbyists and a <a href='http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/articles/entry/1180/'>sampling of top players</a>.</p><p><i>From the <a href='http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/02/25/pollution-climate-lobbyists/'>Wonk Room</a>.</i></p>
<p>The Center for Public Integrity has found that “<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/articles/entry/1171/">more than 770 companies</a> and interest groups hired an estimated 2,340 lobbyists to influence federal policy on climate change in the past year,” estimating total expenditures of $90 million. Their <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/">comprehensive investigation of climate lobbying</a> discovered that nearly 2,000 of the lobbyists represent corporate interests.</p>
<center><a href='http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/climate-change-chart2b.jpg'><img src='http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/climate-change-chart2b_s.PNG' alt='Climate Change Lobbyists' /></a></center>
<span class="caps">CPI</span> found that the top climate lobbying shop was the <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/tag/accce">American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</a> (ACCCE), a coal-industry front group that spent $10.5 million lobbying Congress:
<blockquote><strong>No group exemplifies the sophistication of the current debate more than the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</strong> — a new lobbying organization unveiled just weeks before the vote last June on the Warner-Lieberman bill. Representing 48 mining firms, coal-hauling railroads and coal-burning power companies, <strong><span class="caps">ACCCE</span> spent $10.5 million lobbying Capitol Hill on climate in 2008</strong> — more than any other organization solely dedicated to the issue. In addition to the group’s president, Steven Miller, a one-time aide to former Democratic Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones, and vice president Joe Lucas, who was an aide to former Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary, <span class="caps">ACCCE</span> has at least 15 outside lobbyists, including former White House Counsel Quinn. <strong>The big effort is not surprising, since electricity is the largest single source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and the most carbon-intensive fuel, coal, provides half the nation’s power</strong>. But <span class="caps">ACCCE</span>’s position is that it supports a mandatory federal program to curb the emissions its own members produce—as long as the policy meets <span class="caps">ACCCE</span>’s set of principles for keeping electricity affordable, domestically produced, and reliable. <strong>And that means encouraging, in <span class="caps">ACCCE</span>’s words, “robust utilization of coal.”</strong></blockquote>
<p>Check out the “<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/">The Climate Change Lobby</a>” site, including a searchable database of lobbyists and a <a href='http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/articles/entry/1180/'>sampling of top players</a>.</p>Sandraurn:uuid:a86c5281-4e52-48e6-a7df-2888d97a77f82009-03-17T06:03:27-04:002009-05-13T09:07:31-04:00Comment on Center for Public Integrity: Corporate Interests Dominate Climate Change Lobbying by Sandra<p>its ridiculous how much money is wasted on very limited and selfish interests of corporations. I don’t think that most people understand the gravity of global warming, because lobbyists for corporations are just going to downplay the deterioration of this planet for capital gains.</p>
<p>I have been looking around the web to see what type of information is out there to inform the public about global warming. I ran across this website about a transarctic expedition, which is being done to educate the public on global warming. Has anyone heard of it before? <a href="http://www.transantarcticexpedition.com/expedition/" rel="nofollow">http://www.transantarcticexpedition.com/expedition/</a></p>