In 2009, our US campaigners protested against Big Oil-funded spin which aimed to nobble the climate change debate
If you ever wanted to witness the grimy political hand of Big Oil, now's your chance: it's US mid-term election time.
The web of dirty money is global, with BP and other European companies complicit in funding climate change denier candidates for the US senate.
A report released today by Climate Action Network Europe shows that almost 80 per cent of funding from this group of European companies has gone to candidates who either deny climate change or have campaigned to block climate change legislation.
But behind the numbers is an even darker story: these European companies are arguing against further emissions limits in the EU saying that we need movement in the US first – something they are using their cash to actively campaign against.
One of the groups said:
"In the absence of an international deal securing equally strong action from other economies, any further increase of the EU's unilateral 20 per cent emission reduction target would be premature and even counterproductive."
But they're directly lobbying against "strong action from other economies".
For those of you who've been following the dark arts of companies like BP for a while, none of this will be surprising. But even former-Hummer driver Arnold Schwarzenegger has reached the end of his tether with these oil companies.
Arnie's locked into a battle with lobbyists in California who are trying to suspend his emissions bill under the false banner of creating new jobs. In response, he raged:
"Does anyone really believe that these companies, out of the goodness of their black oil hearts, are spending millions and millions of dollars to protect jobs? It's not about jobs at all, ladies and gentlemen. It is about their ability to pollute and thus protect their profits."
And he's right, the studies show that clean energy industry creates three to seven more jobs per unit of energy than fossil fuels like oil.
So if these British and European companies are lobbying hard in the US against climate laws, you can imagine what they're doing here in their own back yard.
That's why we're going to need your help in countering these lobbyists in some important upcoming battles in the EU.
Stay tuned, we'll be releasing more details soon.
