"Double Agents": Lobbyists for Big Tech, Universities & Eco Groups Also Work for Big Oil

double agents fossil fuel lobbyists work for U.S groups trying to fight climate crisis that's the title of a damning new investigation by the guardian that reveals how more than 1500 lobbyists are working for fossil fuel companies at the same time they're representing hundreds of cities universities big tech companies and even environmental groups that claim they're taking steps to address the climate crisis the report is based on a new database by the group F minus that was published online this week for more we're joined by the guardian's environmental reporter Oliver Millman who is also author of the book the insect crisis Oliver welcome back to democracy Now explain what you found and this contradiction of fossil fuel lobbyists representing the fossil fuel companies but also for example environmental groups hi there Amy good to be with you yes as you as you mentioned there are about 1500 at least uh lobbyists across the U.S uh who do state level lobbying for fossil fuel companies such as Exxon shell BP and so on but they also work for some of the most Progressive minded institutions in the country um you know not only kind of cities such as Los Angeles uh Philadelphia um uh even Baltimore which is a city that is suing Big Oil because it's climate damages Baltimore Shares are lobbyists with Exxon which is one of the defendants in that case quite extraordinarily um but also a range of other institutions um Museums Art Galleries a new Museum in New York uh Los Angeles County art museum in in La um big Tech the kind of big tech companies that have said they will do so much to address the climate crisis Apple Google Microsoft Amazon or share lobbyists with with big oil um Apple shares a shares an obvious with the coke Industries Network that a group of companies that has done so much to delay and deny the science of climate change as well as steiny action to kind of cut emissions and there's also more than more than 150 universities um that share lobbyists with uh Big Oil and Gas including um many universities that are divested themselves from fossil fuels uh which is an effort that that bill uh who who's speaking before has helped kind of spearhead there's universities such as University of Washington Syracuse University uh uh California State University that have all looked to divest themselves in fossil fuels and yet have lobbyists who work on other days of the week on pushing fossil fuel interests so this is extraordinary kind of over so just to be very clear Oliver you have a guy go lobbying at the state level one day saying you gotta deregulate for Exxon because I represent Exxon he says and the next day saying you got to shut down these fossil fuel companies because he represents an environmental group the same guy yeah that that's that's pretty much it I mean this data set doesn't show exactly what these lobbyists are lobbying on in terms of particular topics but we know who their clients are and we know where the overlaps are so yes uh you you work for Exxon on Monday to to kind of push the interest of Exxon to keep drilling for oil and gas and then on Tuesday you're working for um the city of Baltimore that's suing Exxon let's talk about Baltimore um in the state of Maryland F minus reveals as you said many non-profit groups Municipal County governments are sharing lobbyists with the fossil fuel industry including Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University one of the leading institutions in the research of climate change the database reveals quote the trustees of Johns Hopkins voted to divest from coal in December 2017 stating of public and explicit stance will help Propel the weight of public opinion toward accelerating the transition away from coal as a source of electric power around the globe despite this stance lobbyist listings for 2022-23 show hop Johns Hopkins sharing one or more Maryland lobbyists with two companies with substantial coal interests NRG energy and wholesome participation if that's how it's pronounced in addition to five companies with upstream and Midstream oil and gas operations and in Florida the Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital shared a lobbyist with coal plant operator Techo energy if you can go more into that and also a point you make in the piece is that they are then sharing the strategy say of an environmental group or a university that's just divested with the oil companies because they represent one on Monday and the other on Tuesday yeah I mean that's the great danger I mean one of the one justifications of this is that well you know you want the best lobbyists if you're a particular institution including even an environmental group and there are several environmental groups that share lobbyists with big oil uh a bit like a lawyer you could be a lawyer that represents some you know Donald Trump on Monday and Planned Parenthood on another day and you have this kind of professionalism that means that you'd have a divide on that but um the Practical nature of that of this is of course is that there's this sensitive information you don't really want to be shared with the other side particularly if you're actively campaigning against the other side or suing them in court as several cities are so there is that that danger of a conflict of interest there um and and as you mentioned with Johns Hopkins there is this um slightly opaque nature of divestments from many universities where they said that they will rid their endowments of fossil fuels and yet they students have been pushing for kind of Greater detail as a clarity about what that means in terms of distance themselves from fossil fuel industry at large and I spoke to several kind of student groups who said they're very disheartened that their universities are continuing to work with those links to the fossil fuel industry even though they say they've divested it's clear that big oil isn't toxic it isn't Radioactive in terms of its reputation as the as perhaps the tobacco industry may be and all these Progressive institutions are very happy to work with those aligned with big oil um if they feel that they can get something out of that and can you talk about big Tech Oliver yeah of course I mean that I mean it may not surprise some people who are a little cynical about big text um uh pronouncements on things like climate change but it's still quite extraordinary that you have these large companies that have vowed to do so much to address the climate crisis Apple for example is um uh vowed to kind of um decarbonize this entire Supply Chain by 2030 and yet it sheds lobbyists with the coke Network um Amazon uh employs fossil fuel aligned lobbyists in 27 different states and Microsoft lobbyist also works for Exxon on other days of the week and Google has a lobbyist with seven different uh fossil fuel clients I mean the list goes on and on this is an industry that has been called out several times for under delivering on its promises on on the climate crisis and it's clear that the the wielding of political power and influence is far more important to them than staying true to any kind of ideals of distancing themselves fully from the fossil fuel industry uh I want to quickly get to insurance industry you tweeted some of these overlaps are particularly jarring State Farm which is halting new policies in California due to wildfires has fossil fuel aligned lobbyists in 18 states top ski resorts and they're melting snow also pay for oil and gas lobbyists knowing this information can you talk about the significance of State Farm halting new housing insurance policies in California and employing lobbyists who also work for carbon polluters yeah I mean some of this doesn't seem just to be a kind of conflict of interest it seems to be going actively against the interests of the the companies that are paying these lobbyists I mean State Farm like you say they uh announced in May that they'll be taking no more homeowner policies in in California due to what they call the kind of growing catastrophic risk of wildfires and yet they employ these fossil fuel lobbyists all across the US it seems to be actively working against their own Financial interests they're paying people to um create pollute that helping other companies create the pollution that they then have to pay for when it comes to insurance premiums due to wildfires and floods and other huge climate disasters uh and and ski resorts too really seemed quite surprising to me I was I was very kind of interested to see that you have these Scott top ski resorts like Vale and Jackson Hole and that had lobbyists that also worked for fossil fuel interests given the existential risk that um uh Global heating caused is to the ski industry due to Melting snow and Glacier loss and so on so um yeah it's really quite surprising to see these kind of overlaps and um until now we didn't know about it there wasn't this transparency until now now now it's been revealed and maybe uh maybe some action might be taken finally Oliver Millman what are the universities from Bard to Johns Hopkins um to University of Washington Etc and the Environmental Group saying about these shared fossil fuel lobbyists uh there's two kind of main defenses one is you know it's quite normal for lobbyists to have lots of different uh clients this is just the way the business is done which is the kind of um maybe kind of a a kind of cynical and grubby way of looking at politics but probably a realistic one um the other one is that it's it's actually beneficial some of the um green groups told me well if you have a fossil fuel lobbyist and they will help connect you to politicians who wouldn't normally talk to they you know um Republican politician might not take your call if you're the environmental defense fund but um if you have a fossil fuel lobbyist uh who they do speak to you can gain access through them it's a way of gaining access to those in power which again you might see as a kind of a cynical way of looking at things but um is is the way things are done and state capitals and of course in Washington DC too Oliver Millman environmental reporter at the guardian whose new investigation is headlined double agents fossil fuel lobbyists work for us groups trying to fight climate crisis we'll link to the piece at democracynow.org

Channel: Democracy Now!

Views: 147,499

Keywords: Democracy Now, Amy Goodman, News, Politics, democracynow, Independent Media, Breaking News, World News

Id: gd08rqVjAxE

Length: 11min 1sec (661 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 07 2023