ExxonMobil, Peabody Coal Lobbying for Bill Preventing Climate Change Accounting in US Trade Deals

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The day before global leaders and diplomats passed a climate change deal in Paris at the United Nations climate summit, the U.S. House of Representatives โ€” in aย 256-158 voteย โ€”ย authorized the final text of a bill that has a provision preventing climate change to be accounted for in all U.S. trade deals goingย forward.

That bill, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (H.R.644), now may proceed for full-floor votes in both the House and the U.S. Senate after its conference report was agreed upon. A DeSmog review of lobbying records shows the bill has received heavy fossil fuel industryย support.ย 

The language in the billย originally dictated that โ€œtrade agreements do not require changes to U.S. law or obligate the United States with respect to global warming or climateย change.โ€

ExxonMobil Climate Change US Trade Deals

Image Credit: U.S. Government Printingย Office

According to National Journal, Congress changed that languageย in the conference report to โ€œgreenhouse gas emissionsโ€ and took โ€œglobal warming or climate changeโ€ off theย table.

Koch-Funded Politician Insertsย Language

National Journal also detailed that U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)ย inserted the original language into the bill and he is content with the amended language,ย too.ย 

โ€œHe finds it acยญceptยญable beยญcause he reยญceived asยญsurยญance from [U.S. Trade Repยญresยญentยญatยญive Miยญchael Froยญman] that the [Trade Proยญmoยญtion Auยญthorยญity] bill does not provide the adยญminยญisยญtraยญtion any new auยญthorยญity to enter inยญto cliยญmate-change agreeยญments,โ€ย Sensenbrennerย spokesยญwoยญman Nicole Tieยญman told Nationalย Journal.

Sensenbrenner,ย campaign finance records show, maintains Koch Industries as one of his top donors. He also has well over $1 million in fossil fuel industry investments. Thoseย include:

$100,001 to $250,000 in BPย stock

$39,253 in Chevronย stock

$564,717 to $1,064,716 in ExxonMobilย stock

-$250,001 to $500,000 in General Electricย stock

-$100,001 to $250,000 in Wisconsin Energy Corporationย stock

Meet theย Lobbyists

In name, Sensenbrenner introduced the anti-climate provision intoย the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, but in reality industry lobbyists are the ones who ensured the U.S. House did the industry’s bidding. That much is clear by reviewing lobbying disclosureย forms.

Fossil fuel companies who have put their best lobbying feet forward on H.R. 644 include General Electric (GE), ExxonMobil, Chevron, Peabody Energy and the American Petroleum Institute (API).

One of the members of GE‘s lobbying team for H.R. 644,ย Lisa Wolski, served as chief-of-staff for former U.S. Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ).ย Nancy Dorn, another lobbyist on the team, formerly served asย Legislative Affairs Assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney and as National Security Advisor to former Speaker of the House, U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL).

ExxonMobil also played the revolving door game on H.R. 644, paying lobbying firm Nickles Groupย โ€”ย which is named after former U.S. Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK)ย โ€”ย to do so. Nickles Group lists Don Nickles as one of its lobbyists for the bill on its lobbying disclosure form for quarterย two.ย 

Nickles Group ExxonMobil

Image Credit: U.S.ย Senate

Peabody Energy, the coal production company whose stock price has plummetedย since the passage of the Paris Agreement, deployedย Ruth Demeter to lobbyย in Washington on theย bill.

Demeter formerly worked as an energyย policy advisor for U.S. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and U.S. Sen.ย John Barrasso, touting on her LinkedIn page that as a Senate staffer she โ€œprepare[d] meeting memorandumโ€ and prepared for meetings withย lobbyists.ย 

The coal giant also hired a team of lobbyists atย Greenberg Traurig LLP to push for H.R. 644, two of which are former congressional members: U.S. Sen.ย Tim Hutchinson (R-AR) and U.S. Rep.ย Albert Wynn (D-MD).ย 

Vetoย Call

In July, environmental groups such as 350.org, Sierra Club, Greenpeace USA, Food and Water Watch, Natural Resources Defense Council and others wrote a letter to Congress urging the anti-climate provision to beย rejected.

Theย groups wrote:

The proposed provision poses significant risks to future progress on climate action. If accepted, it would limit the United Statesโ€™ latitude to safeguard climate policies from trade attacks under existing and future trade agreements; it would inject even greater uncertainty into ongoing negotiations in the UNFCCC and other arenas by raising news questions about the scope of US negotiating authority; and it would raise serious challenges to the fulfillment of formal agreements like the US-China commitment to facilitate trade in clean-energy technologies, and global commitments to phase out fossil fuelย subsidies.

It appears the letter fell upon deaf ears and blind eyes, though. When the bill and the anti-climate provision advanced, Friends of the Earth (FOE) issued aย statement calling for President Barack Obama to veto the bill.

โ€œThe Republican leaders of the U.S. Congress, with the help of President Obama, are expediting passage of a Customs Bill that explicitly excludes consideration of climate change when the United States negotiates international trade agreements,โ€ reads the statement by Bill Waren, senior trade analyst at FOE. โ€œPresident Obama must stop allowing trade to trump effective action on climate change. He should reverse course and veto the climate-denying Customs Bill when it comes to hisย desk.โ€

Congressional session has closed for the year and the White House has not yet signaled if it would veto the bill if it arrived at its desk when session begins anew inย 2016.ย 

Photo Credit: Yellowjย | Shutterstock

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Steve Horn is the owner of the consultancy Horn Communications & Research Services, which provides public relations, content writing, and investigative research work products to a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit clients across the world. He is an investigative reporter on the climate beat for over a decade and former Research Fellow for DeSmog.

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