By Cliff Montgomery – May 4th, 2010
A British Petroleum (BP)-leased oil rig located forty miles off the Louisiana coast exploded on April 20th,pouring gargantuan amounts of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The Obama Administration has called theevent a matter of “national significance,” and has promised assistance with both the containment and theclean-up of the environmental catastrophe.
The White House also has indicated the possibility of a federal investigation, to determine responsibility for thedisaster.
But don’t cry for BP just yet. The London-based multinational corporation has spent the last several yearsbuying politicians in Washington, DC–and the leading recipient of BP-related “donations” from the 2008election cycle was Barack Obama, who happily collected $71,000 from the British oil giant during his successfulrun for the presidency.
In all, political action committees and individuals associated with BP contributed about $500,000–half a millionbucks–to candidates running for national office in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).
CRP is “the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections andpublic policy,” declares its mission statement.
Around 60 percent of the 2008 donations went to Republicans, while about 40 percent went to Democrats, statesCRP. This is noticeably different than the oil industry average, which usually favors Republicans by more than athree-to-one margin. Apparently, BP has been working to remain a power behind the throne in these moreliberal times.
BP not only buys presidents and other officials–it also shapes laws on Capitol Hill. In 2009 alone, thecorporation spent a whopping $16 million to enact legislation in its favor.
“[BP’s] lobbying focuses on tax incentives for oil and gas production,” states CRP in an informative summary,”opposing mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions and following U.S. trade relations and policy in theMiddle East.
“Through membership in a trade association known as the Organization for International Investment, BP [also]has lobbied to gain exemptions from U.S. corporate law reforms,” adds CRP.
The company has spent $3.53 million on Hill lobbying efforts in the first three months of 2010. Among its gasand oil industry peers, only ConocoPhillips has spent more this year to shape our laws.
That money seems to have greased things up nicely for the British firm. Perhaps most famously, Obamarecently declared he was ready to allow more oil drilling along America’s coastline.
Last year, BP also actively lobbied on the so-called “American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009”–legislation that would allow an increase of gas and oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico. The bill would allow gas andoil companies to drill closer to shore than what is currently allowed by law.
The legislation further calls for a continued research of gas and oil reserves in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.
This “American Clean Energy Leadership Act” is sponsored by Senator Jeff Bingaman. Over the last 20 yearsBP associates have contributed a total of $14,000 in ‘campaign donations’ to the New Mexico Democrat,states CRP.
Last year, BP also lobbied to influence the outcomes of the Clean Water Restoration Act and the Oil SpillPrevention Act of 2009.
In 2009, political action committees and individuals with ties to BP ‘donated’ $16,000 to House Energy andCommerce Committee members, according to information from CRP.
This is nothing new. Some of the all-time top U.S. House recipients of BP money currently sit on that HouseCommittee: John Dingell (D-MI) Joe Barton (R-TX), Ralph Hall (R-TX), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Fred Upton(R-MI).
The failed oil well off the Louisiana coast now is said to be leaking up to 5,000 barrels–or 200,000 gallons–ofcrude oil every day. No one yet knows how all that spewing crude may effect the health of the area’s citizens.
“The oil slick could become the nation’s worst environmental disaster in decades,” stated a Associated Pressarticle printed Friday, “threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast,one of the world’s richest seafood grounds.”
The people of Louisiana have been through enough in recent years. They deserve better than this.
