Published time: March 23, 2015 11:22
Senator James Inhofe.(Reuters / Gary Cameron)
One of America’s most powerful opponents of climate
change regulation, Senator Jim Inhofe, has been receiving campaign money
traced back to oil giant BP, including chief executive Bob Dudley.
The Oklahoma Republican, Jim Inhofe received $10,000 from the BP
political action committee (PAC), according to a Guardian
exclusive.
PACs in the US are set up to assist US companies and trade unions
that can’t give direct support to political candidates, who fit
their values and business aspirations. Instead, they pool
donations from the companies’ higher-ups and the money is then
disbursed by a board.
BP has maintained in the past its
“long-established”
attitudes towards the problems of climate change, but it’s not
uncommon for names of top oil executives to come up when tracing
donations made to people who want to kill climate change
legislation. Money from Exxon Mobil chief Rex Teillerson has also
found its way to Inhofe and others like him on more than one
occasion.
After re-election last year, Inhofe became chair of the Senate’s
environment and public works committee in January – something
that President Barack Obama found
“disturbing” in an
interview to VICE News later in March. He was criticizing the
practice of financing climate change skeptics’ campaigns, saying
“there is a lot of money involved.”
In February, Inhofe famously threw a snowball inside a hearing,
proclaiming,
“In case we have forgotten – because we keep
hearing that 2014 is the warmest year on record – it is very,
very cold outside. Very unseasonal!”
READ MORE:
Environmental chair throws snowball on Senate floor to
rail against global warming (VIDEO)
2014 was BP’s most expensive election cycle in more than a
decade. Although the company insists it is non-partisan, some 69
percent of PAC money last year went to Republicans. According to
data from the Center for Responsive Politics, that
is more than any other energy PAC.
A total of $1 million was deposited into BP’s PACs by top
executives between 2010 and 2014, $655,000 of which was spent on
about 40 incumbent senators.
Inhofe’s campaign raised $4.84 million from 2009 to 2014,
according to CRP. Slightly under half of this came from various
PACs, a large portion of which support fossil fuel companies.
But it’s not clear what motivates an oil giant to spend money a
certain way: both BP and Dudley, the CEO behind the Inhofe
donation, have been vocal on climate change policy in the past.
The company published its
Energy Outlook 2025 report, in which it states:
“To abate
carbon emissions further will require additional significant
steps by policymakers beyond the steps already assumed.”
However, its priority in 2014 was Inhofe, who had two years
earlier authored ‘The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming
Conspiracy Threatens Your Future.’ Records from CRP indicate he
was a priority with BP in 2014. And since 2011, Dudley has been
funneling very close to the $5,000 per year maximum allowed by
law. Figures also indicate Inhofe could easily have beaten his
much less funded opponent last November, even without BP’s help.
When asked how its recognition of the seriousness of climate
change goes hand in hand with its strong Republican bias in PACs,
the company wrote in a statement:
“Voluntary donations [by
staff] to the BP employees’ political action committee in the US
are used to support a variety of candidates across the political
spectrum and in many US geographies [sic] where we operate.
“These candidates have one thing in common: they are
important advocates for the energy industry in the broadest
sense."
As for BP’s own position, it’s a
“long-established” fact
that the company views climate change as
“an important
long-term issue that justified global action.”
It declined to comment on how Dudley and Inhofe factor into the
above.
The company has given money to other politicians as well, not
necessarily all climate change policy opponents. But, according
to
CRP
statistics, the bias seems to be overwhelmingly in their
favor. Among the louder Republican voices on BP’s PAC list are
people like House Speaker John Boehner, who said at a Republican
Congressional retreat in January that he believes there are
“changes in the climate,” but that any proposals voiced
by the Obama administration on this matter amount to
“killing
American jobs.”
Reuters / Daniel Becerril
In his rejection of a White House climate change report,
Boehner’s colleague and fellow Republican, Senator Mike Enzi of
Wyoming, told local news in May that Obama’s policies aren’t
geared toward fighting climate change, just making it harder for
businesses to operate.
PACs aren’t the only thing keeping politicians going, nor are
they the only thing at oil giants’ disposal to pursue their
favorite candidates’ victories. BP has been spending millions on
lobbying outside of PACs as well, according to CRP, who
classifies it as a “heavy hitter” and ranks it in the top 140 of
the biggest donors to federal elections since 1988.
