A vast array of left-leaning groups working to combat climate change and promote clean energy are hiring lobbyists whose clients include members of the very industry they’re trying to take down: fossil fuels.
That’s according to a database published Wednesday by the newly formed group F Minus, which calls for the divestment from fossil fuel lobbyists in the fight to address a warming planet.
The database, compiled using public lobbying records from last year, shows there were 1,500 lobbyists with fossil fuel clients who were also hired by city governments, companies, leading environmental groups and dozens of universities despite a push from those same entities to fight climate change.
F Minus Executive Director James Browning said the records underscore why “for anyone worried about the climate crisis, it is time to cut ties with these lobbyists.”
“Despite the climate crisis, the fossil fuel industry continues to wield extraordinary power in state legislatures through its lobbyists,” Mr. Browning said. “Many of these lobbyists also represent communities and businesses whose long-term climate mitigation costs will be catastrophic.”
There are no laws that prohibit lobbyists from working for companies or advocating on issues that contradict their work for other clients. Many lobbyists work across industries, but fewer are hired by clients with diametrically opposed interests.
Democrat-led cities that have moved to divest from fossil fuels but employ industry lobbyists include: Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Baltimore, for example, is seeking millions of dollars in a lawsuit against major oil companies for alleged climate-related damages. But the city used a lobbyist last year who also works for ExxonMobil, one of the oil giants named in Baltimore’s suit.
Top environmental groups Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund (NRDC) and Environmental Defense Action Fund (EDF) used lobbyists whose clients included fossil fuels. NRDC shared a lobbyist with the mining company BHP, while EDF hired lobbyists with ExxonMobil, Calpine Energy and Duke Energy.
EDF spokesperson Jon Coifman told The Washington Times that working with fossil fuel-aligned lobbyists is “not, in itself, an automatic disqualification” and that “in some cases, it can actually help us find productive alignment in unexpected places.”
“Stopping catastrophic climate change is our singular priority,” Mr. Coifman said. “EDF is well known for working across party lines and with industry to cut greenhouse pollution, even as we push the transition away from fossil fuels as fast as possible. We evaluate prospective consultants carefully, and many don’t pass muster.”
The NRDC told The Times that “as a rule,” it and its action fund “engage with vendors that don’t work with the fossil fuel industry. At times we retain vendors that specialize in engagement that can help build support for climate and equity progress across both sides of the aisle.”
Silicon Valley also leaned heavily on fossil fuel lobbyists, despite climate pledges to slash carbon emissions from tech companies such as: Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft. Amazon, for example, has pledged to zero-out its emissions by 2040 but used fossil fuel lobbyists spanning across 27 states.
Institutions such as New York City’s New Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Utah’s Sundance Film Institute, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Florida Aquarium used fossil fuel lobbyists despite their climate stances.
F Minus said more than 150 colleges and universities also employed industry lobbyists, despite the higher-education institutions aligning with more progressive climate change initiatives. Syracuse University, for example, pledged to boycott fossil fuel investments with its $1.2 billion endowment fund but used a lobbyist with ties to 14 oil and natural gas companies.
The University of Washington has made a similar divestment pledge but used a lobbyist tied to Marathon Petroleum.
“It is common for lobbyists to work for a variety of clients,” a University of Washington spokesperson told The Guardian.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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