June 24, 2008 6:24 a.m.
Everyone Wants a Say on Climate Change
By Emily Cadei and Coral Daven****t, CQ Staff
The hot-button issue of climate change is attracting a
swarm of lobbyists representing virtually every major
interest group, even though lawmakers say they donıt
expect to move legislation this year.
An analysis by Congressional Quarterly has found that
in the first three months of 2008, more than 700
entities re****ted lobbying the federal government on
climate change. That count which includes multiple
registrations for organizations that have enlisted
several different lobbying firms is up dramatically
from the second half of 2007, when about 430
lobbying registrations identified climate change as a
target issue.
The climate change registrations even trumped the
lobbying efforts surrounding this yearıs sweeping farm
bill (HR 6124), which generated more than 600
registrations in the first quarter.
And while it comes as no surprise that oil companies,
utilities and automakers were weighing in on
legislation to cap the emissions of gases that contribute
to global warming, the groups registered to lobby
include some unlikely players. Dairy farmers and
defense contractors, the sneakermaker Nike Inc. and
technology company Hewlett-Packard Co., the
American Lung Association and international aid
organizations such as Oxfam International Inc. are
among the hundreds of interests trying to influence
the legislation.
³Limiting [carbon dioxide] emissions puts a rationing
effect on all activity in the economy and all human
activity,² said Jeff Munk, a lobbyist with Hogan &
Hartson LLP. ³So whether youıre selling outboard
motors or feeding poor people in Africa, itıs going to
affect you.²
Hogan & Hartsonıs global warming clients include
Nissan North America Inc. and Koch Industries Inc.
The firm billed a total of $930,000 for lobbying in
the first quarter of 2008.
Groups and lobbyists are not required to break out
how much money is directed toward specific issues,
so lobbying re****ts do not state how much is spent
on climate change legislation in particular. However,
groups and lobbyists told CQ that the issue was a
high legislative priority.
The explosion of lobbying on climate change is
especially notable because lawmakers do not expect
to move a bill this year. The Senate cut short debate on
its climate change legislation (S 3036) this month amid
partisan feuding about amendments and judicial
nominations, and the House Energy and Commerce
Committee has not yet drafted a bill and only began
holding hearings last week.
But proponents are optimistic about passing legislation
in the next Congress to cap emissions of gases such as
carbon dioxide and allow polluters to buy and sell
emissions allowances especially with a more
sympathetic resident of the White House. Unlike
President Bush, the two major presidential candidates,
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and
Democratic Sen. Barak Obama of Illinois, sup****t
capping greenhouse gas emissions.
The Potential to Transform the Economy
Virtually every corner of the U.S. economy has a stake
in a cap-and-trade global warming bill. By putting a
price on carbon dioxide, Congress would
fundamentally change the way Americans use energy
and would transform the economy.
Most cap-and-trade models would auction emission
allowances to polluters, establi****ng a market incentive
to reduce emissions but also creating a major source of
federal revenue. The Senate bill would have collected
anywhere from $6 trillion to $8 trillion from polluters
over four decades and redistributed the money to a host
of industries and interest groups.
For many industries, such as utilities, the legislation
poses a threat of higher costs and tighter regulation. For
others, the redistribution of trillions of dollars presents
enticing op****tunities,
Everyone Wants a Say on Climate Change
³The funds that this bill creates all that is a huge
op****tunity to have your favorite industry or client
have a pipeline to a virtually endless source of future
funds,² Munk said.
For example, humanitarian groups hope some of the
money will be spent to help poor people pay their
soaring energy bills. The U.S. arm of Oxfam, which
spent $315,000 on lobbying in the first quarter of
2008 and $670,000 for all of 2007, wants Congress to
steer some of the money to help developing countries
adapt to climate change.
³It sometimes raises eyebrows that weıre engaged,
but it became something we thought was . . . absolutely
essential to engage in,² said David Waskow, director of
Oxfamıs Climate Change Program.
Waskow called climate change ³one of the key drivers
of poverty over the course of the next century² and
said steering money to developing countries is ³a
matter of preventing the damage that is going to come
and in part to address the damage that is already
occurring.²
Energy Costs Spur Involvement
For many interests, the threat of higher energy costs is
the paramount worry. Dow Chemical Co., for example,
fears that capping carbon emissions will drive up the
price of cleaner-burning natural gas, a raw material
used in the production of many of the companyıs
products.
³Our biggest concern is the cost of energy,² said Keith
Belton, director of government affairs for Dow, which
spent $540,000 on lobbying in the first quarter of 2008
and $3.4 million in 2007. ³We spent $8 billion
purchasing energy in 2002. Right now, weıre spending
$8 billion per quarter.²
Likewise, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which accepts the
inevitability of climate change legislation and is
lobbying for a moderate cap-and-trade bill, operates
one of the nationıs biggest fleets of private trucks and
worries about energy prices.
Even the National Milk Producers Federation, which
represents dairy farmers, is spending heavily to
influence climate change legislation.
³Cows and manure generate certain emissions,² said
Jaime Castaneda, senior vice president for government
relations at the federation, which spent $210,000 on
lobbying in the first quarter. Methane, a greenhouse
gas produced by cows, is 20 times more potent than
carbon dioxide, and dairy farmers fear that regulating
methane emissions could drive up the cost of owning
dairy cows and the price of milk.
Interest Groups Join Forces
The potential impact of a climate change bill has led
interest groups to marshal their forces, creating a host
of new lobbying coalitions. CQ found 12 coalitions
registered to lobby on climate change legislation in
the first quarter, the majority populated by the energy
and manufacturing industries.
Duke Energy Corp., one of the nationıs biggest power
producers, sits on five of the coalitions, and chemical
giant DuPont is a member of four. Combined, the
coalitions spent $2.6 million on lobbying in the first
quarter, a jump from the $1.5 million they spent all
of last year.
Everyone Wants a Say on Climate Change
An additional coalition, Americans for Affordable
Climate Change, backed by energy companies like
Duke Energy, American Electric Power Co. and
Progress Energy Service Co., formed in May.
Lobbyists Find Themselves in Demand
While many interests are concerned about how they
will fare under a future climate change law, one
industry already is reaping a windfall: the lobbying
firms centered on Wa****ngtonıs K Street.
³An increasing number of opinion leaders have come
to learn that the bill acts like a giant ATM,² said
Scott Segal, a lobbyist for Bracewell & Giuliani LLP,
which billed $555,000 from the 10 clients it represents
on climate change, among other issues, in the first
quarter of the year.
Hogan & Hartsonıs Munk said the issue will only
become more lucrative.
³Even though there is a lot of lobbying going on now,
a lot of business is still holding back,² he said.
³But next year, when it is not an election year and
Congress can get serious, everyone who you can
think of will flock to the Hill with their particular
concerns about this.²
CQ İ 2007 Congressional Quarterly Inc.
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