The Big Oil Dirty Dozen, Part II

She and her fellow task force members oversaw the creation of "marine protected areas" that fail protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts other than sustainable fishing and gathering - all while the oil industry was fracking for oil in the Santa Barbara Channel! Not only did Reheis-Boyd chair this panel, but she served on the MLPA Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Forces for the North Coast, North Coast and Central Coast and on a federal marine protected areas panel.

The San Ramon-based Chevron Corporation placed second in the “The Big Dirty Dozen” competition with $13,457,771 spent on lobbying in the five year period. 

The corporation spent $1,532,359 in 2009, $2,314,599 in 2010, $2,964,238 in 2011, $2,696,296 in 2012 and $3,950,280 in 2013.    

Environmental justice and indigenous groups accuse the San Ramon based-Chevron of environmental racism, ranging from the adverse health impacts of the pollution caused by the operation of its refinery in Richmond, California to its dumping of toxic waste in indigenous communities in the the Amazon River Basin in Ecuador.

The other members of “The Big Oil Dirty Dozen” during the five-year period are:

3. BP: $3,251,060

4. AERA Energy: $2,513,993

5. Conoco Phillips: $2,344,510

6. Occidental: $2,256,230

7. Shell: $2,127,881

8. Exxon: $2,105,419

9. CIPA: $1,616,756

10. Phillips66: $1,275,199

11. Fueling California: $646,799

12. CIOMA: $447,528.

The final two oil industry spenders were Tesoro at $313,999 and Valero at $288,459.

If you think that $56,633,498 is a lot of money, it is mere chump change compared to the profits that oil companies are making as gas prices soar at the pumps. Big Oil's estimated profits in 2014 to date are over $28,981,000,000 and rising every minute. 

The 2013 profit totals for the big five oil companies combined —BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Shell - were $93 billion, or $177,000 per minute. 

According to Stop Fooling California, "Chevron and oil lobbyists like the Western States Petroleum Association use their influence to roll back California’s popular clean air and energy laws.”

In addition to the data provided by Stop Fooling California, the ACCE Institute and Common Cause released a ground breaking report on April 1, 2014 revealing that Big Oil spent $123.6 million to lobby elected officials in California over the past 15 years. This was an increase of over 400 percent since the 1999-2000 legislative session, when the industry spent $4.8 million.

The report also examines historical campaign contributions by the largest firms in the oil and gas industry. Over the last fifteen years, Big Oil has spent $143.3 million on political candidates and campaigns – nearly $10 million per year and more than any other corporate lobby. Chevron topped these campaign contributions with $71.2 million

The report also exposes how the oil and gas lobby has spent nearly $15 million to influence Sacramento lawmakers halfway through the 2014-15 legislative session. The record is $25.5 million, set in 2011-12.    

For more information about this report, read my article, “How Big Bought Sacramento” at: http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/14/how-big-oil-bought-sacramento/