Articles by: Elliott Negin

How the American Legislative Exchange Council Turns Disinformation Into Law

How the American Legislative Exchange Council Turns Disinformation Into Law

 State lawmakers introduced nearly 2,900 bills based on ALEC templates from 2010 through 2018. More than 600 of them became law. In June 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a bill banning the state from contracting with or investing in businesses that divest from coal, oil or natural gas companies. For Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian—one of the state’s top[Read More…]

by 01/07/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, is interviewed by Alan Murray, CEO of Fortune Magazine, at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2016, on “What Makes a Large Private Company Tick?” on July 11, 2016. (Photo Credit: Photo by Kevin Moloney/Fortune Brainstorm Tech, via Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

It’s Time for Charles Koch to Testify About His Climate Disinformation Campaign

 For more than two decades, Koch-controlled foundations spent more than $160 million to stymie government action on climate change. The U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee kicked off its investigation of the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long climate change disinformation campaign last fall by inviting top executives from BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell to testify about their role and subpoenaing their[Read More…]

by 31/03/2022 Comments are Disabled Climate Change
More Than Two Dozen Major Lawsuits Are Putting a Price Tag on the Climate Damage Caused by Fossil Fuel Companies

More Than Two Dozen Major Lawsuits Are Putting a Price Tag on the Climate Damage Caused by Fossil Fuel Companies

Four years ago, Boulder, Colorado, sued ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy—owner of the only oil refinery in the state—for climate change-related damages and adaptation expenses. Boulder and its co-plaintiffs, Boulder County and San Miguel County, home to Telluride, estimated the damage caused by extreme weather events would cost them more than $100 million by 2050. As it turns out, they overestimated the time span—and underestimated[Read More…]

by 03/02/2022 Comments are Disabled Climate Change
Despite Cutbacks, ExxonMobil Continues to Fund Climate Science Denial

Despite Cutbacks, ExxonMobil Continues to Fund Climate Science Denial

ExxonMobil has spent more than $39 million to manufacture doubt about climate science. In a secret video recording made public in late June, a top ExxonMobil lobbyist—Keith McCoy, who was fired soon afterward—not only conceded that the oil giant’s support for a carbon tax is a sham, but he also admitted that the company quietly financed climate science denier groups to stave[Read More…]

by 27/10/2021 Comments are Disabled Climate Change
To Find Out If ExxonMobil Really Supports a Carbon Tax, Just Follow the Money

To Find Out If ExxonMobil Really Supports a Carbon Tax, Just Follow the Money

Despite claiming to endorse a carbon tax, ExxonMobil has funneled millions of dollars to lawmakers who oppose the idea. When then-ExxonMobil lobbyist Keith McCoy conceded in a secretly recorded video in May that the oil giant voiced support for a carbon tax only because it assumed it would never happen, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said the company was “shocked by these interviews” and stood by its “commitments[Read More…]

by 14/10/2021 Comments are Disabled Climate Change