Climate Denier Senators Awash in Petro Euros

Who knows if they sip Beaujolais and nibble on artisan cheeses, but they have a big appetite for foreign European oil money, including money from BP. It’s unclear if the donations were legal or not, but disturbing that foreign polluters are infiltrating the the climate debate and subverting this important national debate.

Politico’s Josh Vorhees broke the story in the U.S.  today and here’s some of what he reported:

“BP and a handful of other large European companies are pouring cash into the campaign coffers of conservative Senate candidates who deny the existence of man-made climate change and/or oppose President Obama’s energy agenda, according to a report from Climate Action Network Europe out this morning.

“The analysis (based on Center for Responsive Politics figures) shows that $240K of the $306K the companies have donated to Senate campaigns went to candidates who have opposed climate legislation (roughly 78 percent). Slightly more than a third of the cash, $107K, went to those who are “climate change deniers” (based on their public comments). The report notes, for comparison, that the Koch brothers have given a total of $217K to Senate campaigns during this election cycle.

“THE COMPANIES: BP, Lafarge, GDF-SUEZ, EON, BASF, BAYER, SOLVAY and Arcelor-Mittal. The eight firms combine to represent between 5 and 10 percent of the total CO2 emissions covered by the EU trading system, according to the report.”

Report authors say it looks like a coordinated effort to short circuit U.S. climate legislation. They liken it to polluter sabotage on a global scale.

Sounds like it needs an investigation to me.

Read the full report here: http://politi.co/arJCTr