27/07/2004

Exxon top spending oil industry lobbyist

ExxonMobil is the oil industry's leader in lobbying expenditures, according to a new study by the American Centre for Public Integrity. Exxon (known as Esso here in the UK) has spent $55 million to plead its case with officials in Washington over the past six years.

Following behind were Chevron Texaco ($32 million), Marathon Oil ($29 million), BP ($28 million), and Royal Dutch/Shell Group ($27 million). In total the oil industry has lavished $440 million over the past six years on politicians, political parties and lobbyists in order to protect its interests in Washington, the report found.

Other noteworthy entries on the list include the industry umbrella group, the American Petroleum Institute (API) who have spent $20 million on political lobbying since 1998. The API played a major role in lobbying against the Kyoto treaty. They have also funded climate sceptic scientists and maintain very close links to their biggest member, ExxonMobil. (Esso CEO Lee Raymond has twice been the chairman of the API, is now a director and currently sits on both the Executive and Policy committees.)

The Centre also listed the US candidates that had received the most donations from the oil industry between 1998 – 2004. Of the top 50 recipients 80% were republican, and to no one's surprise, the ex-oil man President George W Bush comfortably topped the list with $1,724, 579 received since 1998. That was more than three times the amount given to the next biggest recipient of the industry's largesse, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman and fellow Texan Joe Barton, who collected $574,000. Only three Democrats made it into the top 20 recipients of oil and gas campaign contributions since 1998. All three came from oil-rich Louisiana.

ExxonMobil’s Climate Lobbying

Greenpeace’s own research has revealed that ExxonMobil has given $12, 071, 973, since 1998, to organisations working to undermine the case for action on climate change. This figure is verifiable in the company’s own annual reports and includes the funding Esso is indirectly giving to climate sceptics such as Sallie Baliunas, Willie Soon, Sherwood Idso, David Legates and others, through neutral sounding think tanks and organisations. Find out more at exxon secrets.

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