Behind Oil Majors' Lobbying Push

by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) Shell and BP, two of the world's biggest oil companies, are backing Americans for Carbon Dividends, the lobbying arm of the Climate Leadership Council, in its push to institute a $40 per ton fee on carbon emissions, with the proceeds returned to taxpayers — and ending carbon regulations and barring lawsuits on fossil fuel companies' role in driving climate change, Pro's Zack Colman reports ... carb.

With new contributions, Americans for Carbon Dividends has raised a total of $7.6 million to fund its lobbying work through this and next year. Shell and BP each committed $1 million across two years, and EDF Renewables, a French power company, announced today it would contribute an additional $200,000 over that period.

The carbon dividend advocates have also commissioned a new survey that found favorable views of their preferred policies. Greg Bertelsen, senior vice president with Climate Leadership Council, said the results show the climate conversation is "past the tipping point."

Sixty-nine percent of Republicans said they're concerned on some level that their party's position on climate will hurt them with younger voters and 43 percent of GOP respondents said their concern about climate change has increased in the past year. The poll results shared with POLITICO did not ask about shielding oil companies from lawsuits, a key element of the group's plan.

But greens are skeptical of fossil fuels' backing of a carbon fee. "I think here is where the question about what they actually support is very relevant," Julian NoiseCat, Green New Deal strategic director with progressive think tank Data for Progress, said of carbon taxes generally. READ MORE

Excerpt from The Hill: The polling group also noted that 69 percent of GOP voters are concerned that the party's stance on climate change is “hurting itself with younger votes.”

Of the GOP voters under the age of 40, more than half, or 55 percent, said they are "very or extremely" concerned about their party’s position on climate change.

“Typically, the most effective campaign approach is to build-out from the base. ... Not here; there’s simply too much recognition that the politicking has blocked Progress,” the group said in the memo.

Luntz Global conducted the online poll of 1,000 voters on behalf of the Climate Leadership Council, which is promoting its own carbon tax and dividend plan. The survey found that GOP voters supported the plan by a 2-1 margin.

Fifty-three percent of Republicans surveyed said they would be more likely to support a candidate who supported a plan that included a carbon tax.

The memo said a carbon-fee plan would sit “in stark contrast” to the Green New Deal, a progressive climate action plan embraced by the majority of Democratic presidential candidates.

Most Republicans are opposed to the idea of a carbon tax, which would likely increase costs for fossil fuel producers. Critics like Americans for Tax Reform argue that the costs would ultimately be passed on to households and that government involvement unfairly tips the scales to the renewable energy industry.

However, several business groups have recently called on the federal government to regulate emissions through a carbon tax. The CEOs of 75 major companies, including Exxon Mobil and BP, visited Capitol Hill earlier this month to lobby Republicans to embrace a carbon tax. READ MORE

Excerpt from E&E News: The report is based on the results of an online poll and focus groups Luntz Global conducted for the Climate Leadership Council. CLC is the carbon fee and dividend advocacy group funded by numerous corporate entities, including some oil companies.

The memo, which makes the case for the CLC's proposal, comes during a changing landscape for the Capitol Hill climate debate. Republicans are increasingly acknowledging climate science and voicing support for limited solutions.

"The 'political temperature' on climate change has shifted — perhaps permanently," the memo reads. "Three in four American voters want to see the government step in to limit carbon emissions — including a majority of Republicans (55%)."

The GOP is still widely opposed to carbon pricing. So are some of their core constituencies in the advocacy world, including Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform and groups associated with the Koch political network.

But Luntz is not a fly-by-night consultant. He is influential in Republican circles. He famously wrote a memo encouraging the George W. Bush administration to use the term "climate change" instead of "global warming," in part to downplay its negative effects and cast uncertainty on the science.

More recently, he has conducted polls showing public belief in climate change, including for CLC. READ MORE