Dems Shunning Green New Deal Took Far More Money From Oil & Gas Interests

None of the top 25 Democratic recipients of oil- and gas-linked money in the 2018 election are among the 69 Democrats sponsoring the Green New Deal bill. 

By Donald Shaw
Sludge (2/28/19)

House Democrats who so far have declined to co-sponsor Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) Green New Deal bill took, on average, 2.8 times more money from oil and gas PACs and individuals who work in the industry during the 2018 election than those co-sponsoring it, according to a Sludge analysis of campaign finance data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The bill, which currently has 68 Democratic co-sponsors, calls for a 10-year national mobilization to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, create millions of high-paying jobs, prevent oppression of “frontline and vulnerable communities,” and secure the environment for generations to come. Support for a Green New Deal has become a rallying cry for people and groups that are concerned about the catastrophic environmental impacts that scientists have repeatedly said are likely to lead to mass human casualties in the coming decades unless drastic action is taken immediately.

“Fossil fuel CEOs see the Green New Deal as an existential threat to their continued profit, and they are doing everything in their power to fight the Green New Deal tooth and nail.”

“The Green New Deal is our generation’s last and best hope at avoiding climate catastrophe in our lifetimes,” said Stephen O’Hanlon, communications director for the Sunrise Movement, an environmental activist group. “Any politician with a conscience will stand up to the fossil fuel lobby and back it.”

While Ocasio-Cortez has received support from many of her fellow freshman Democrats who were elected in the “blue wave” of 2018, as well as some progressives who have been in the House a lot longer, many top-ranking Democrats have either ignored or dismissed her bill.

Nancy speaks

“The green dream, or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it, right?”  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said when asked about the bill by reporters earlier this month. Pelosi, who is not co-sponsoring the bill, has received $117,065 in campaign contributions from PACs and individuals affiliated with the oil and gas industry over the course of her career. PACs in the broader energy and natural resources sector, including those affiliated with Pacific Gas and Electric, Duke Energy, and Occidental Petroleum, have given her $278,700 since 1998. …

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(Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2019. Open source nd free for non-derivative use with link to www.thecommonercall.org )

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Defeated By AOC, Former Dem Rep. Joe Crowley Is Now Working To Advance Shell Oil’s Tax Interests

By Donald Shaw
Sludge (2/26/19)

The Bipartisan Policy Center announced that Crowley will lead an initiative to develop infrastructure funding proposals including ending the government’s reliance on the gas tax. Crowley’s new lobbying firm has been pushing the same thing for years on behalf of Shell Oil.

Washington D.C. lobbying giant Squire Patton Boggs announced last week that Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), the powerful Queens Democrat who was ousted by Democratic challenger Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), had joined the firm. Crowley is not allowed to formally lobby Congress for 11 more months under House ethics rules, but as an influential and connected D.C. figure there are still plenty of ways he can further the agendas of Squire Patton Boggs’ clients in the meantime.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, an influential D.C think tank, announced yesterday that Crowley will lead its new initiative on infrastructure funding with former Republican Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.). The initiative “will focus on developing potential long-term solutions to fully fund America’s critical infrastructure programs, up to and including ending the federal government’s reliance on the gas tax,” according to a press release. As Crowley and Shuster work on proposals including ending the gas tax, they will be boosting the policy goals of a company that is both a client of Squire Patton Boggs and a donor to the Bipartisan Policy Center: Royal Dutch Shell. …

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