Big Oil Millions Block Climate Action

Oil And Gas Giants Spend Millions Lobbying To Block Climate Change Policies

Niall McCarthy, March 25, 2019 (Forbes)

“Every year, the world's five largest publicly owned oil and gas companies spend approximately $200 million on lobbying designed to control, delay or block binding climate-motivated policy. This has caused problems for governments seeking to implement policies in the wake of the Paris Agreement which are vital in meeting climate change targets. Companies are generally reluctant to disclose such lobbying expenditure…[but the best available records suggest] BP has the highest annual expenditure on climate lobbying at $53 million, followed by Shell with $49 million and ExxonMobil with $41 million. Chevron and Total each spend around $29 million…

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…[Part of the spend] goes towards sophisticated efforts to engage politicians and the general public on environmental policies that could impact fossil fuel usage…[A recent example is BP campaign] to reframe the climate crisis as a ‘dual’ energy challenge…[The five companies] support their lobbying expenditures with a financial outlay of $195 million annually for focused branding activities which suggest they support action against climate change…[by] drawing attention to low carbon, positioning the company as a climate expert and acknowledging climate concern while ignoring solutions…[Only 3% of spending is] directed to low carbon projects…” click here for more

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