Investigating Power
The Center for Media and Democracy released a new report today, “Using Unions to Carry Big Oil’s Water,” detailing how the fossil fuel industry and the American Legislative Exchange Council cynically use unions to win Democratic support for legislation that criminalizes and chills environmental protests under the guise of “worker safety.”
Wells left unplugged by oil and gas companies can emit methane, cause explosions, and leak chemicals that find their way into drinking water.
With Joe Biden in office, a serious plan to combat climate change is finally in our sights — but the clock is ticking, and there is no more room for error.
GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan has up to $5 million invested in a family business that makes petroleum-derived products, some of which it sells to the fossil fuels industry.
Sens. John Barrasso and Cindy Hyde-Smith cited a study commissioned by the biggest oil and gas trade association in the U.S. as evidence for their criticisms of Deb Haaland, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of the Interior, during a confirmation hearing last week.
The congresswoman has faced hostile questioning from senators during her confirmation for interior secretary. Some of them are personally invested in fossil fuels.
The billionaire fossil fuel executive and GOP megadonor has spent his entire adult life financing partisan politics, right-wing think tanks, and ideological education programs. At 85, that’s unlikely to change.
Major utility corruption scandals rocked three states in 2020, resulting in criminal charges against utility executives and the ouster of House Speakers in Illinois and Ohio.
The preferred funding conduits of the Koch political donor network gave out $165 million in grants in 2019, $90 million of which went to right-wing think tanks, advocacy groups, litigation centers, media outlets, extremists, and climate deniers.
Voters in Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and California passed ballot initiatives that boost renewables and challenge fossil fuel interests.