Imagine this, if you will. Imagine you are a very important person with a very important decision to make. Now imagine four different people trying to persuade you to make different decisions. Now imagine you are in a room with 530 or so other important people trying to make the same decision as you and that each of those people also have four people trying to persuade them with conflicting sets of facts. Congratulations! You're now a United States Congressman being bombarded by the climate change lobby!
From 2003 to 2008, the number of lobbyists actively working on climate change legislation has increased by more than 300 percent to a total of 2,340, enough for each member of Congress (House and Senate combined) to have 4 personal climate lobbyists. In 2008 alone, climate change lobby expenses were above $90 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Climate change has become a powerful force in U.S. politics, and the wider world outside the Beltway is starting to take notice.
This year, 82 companies have already signed up to lobby for and against this year's climate change legislation, sponsored by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-Cal.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.). It's already attracted some big names: Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Boeing, and 3M, to name a few. The lobbying firms are playing to win, too: all of the top 10 revenue-earning lobbying firms have taken clients with vested interests in pushing through or blocking the legislation.
Naturally, this raises the question: with so many voices clamoring to be heard and influence policy, can anyone hear anything in the din? Will such a broad variety of positions lead to a well-deliberated decision that creates well-reasoned compromises? Or are we in for another round of “money talks” politics, where the biggest and wealthiest are the only ones with enough clout to make congressmen see things their way? At this early state, it's looking like the latter.
One of the most recognizable lobbying groups of late has been the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, or the ACCCE. Representing 48 different coal-related companies and having spent almost $10 million lobbying in 2008 alone, it is the big dog of climate lobbying. It has already changed congressional minds, securing provisions in Waxman and Markey's bill that allows new coal plants to open until 2015, whereas original legislation called for a moratorium on construction of new plants.
Of course, this came with a stipulation, namely that, before 2025, the plants would be retrofitted with devices to reduce total carbon emissions by 40-60 percent. Now for those of you a bit rusty on your high school chemistry, coal is, by definition, over 50% carbon (with the kind used for electricity generation between 60-90% carbon). In order to get energy from coal, it is burned, which requires oxygen. Put carbon and oxygen together, and you have CO2.
Almost needless to say, these capture devices haven't been invented yet. But this is where the ACCCE really succeeded. Not only did they get permission to build plants, they got $1 billion a year to research how to build them, if possible. Truly a triumph of lobbying. Environmental groups will need to step up their game in order to compete in this league.
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