A State Capitol Awash In Oil Money
By Dan Bacher | November 9, 2013 | Big Oil treated legislators to $13,000 dinner before fracking bill vote The oil indust...
https://www.elkgrovenews.net/2013/11/a-state-capitol-awash-in-oil-money.html
Big Oil treated legislators to $13,000 dinner before fracking bill vote
The
oil industry, the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in
Sacramento, dumped millions of dollars into its successful lobbying
efforts to eviscerate an already weak fracking bill, Senator Fran
Pavley’s Senate Bill 4, at the end of the Legislative Session.
Chevron,
the Western States Petroleum Association and Area Energy LLC spent the
most money lobbying legislators in the third quarter of 2013, according
to California Secretary of State documents.
Chevron
spent $1,696,477, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) spent
$1,269,478 and Aera Energy LLC spent $1,015,534. That’s a total of
$3,981,489 just between July 1 and September 30, 2013. In the first
three quarters of 2013, WSPA alone spent a total of $3,578,266 on lobbying legislators.
In
a classic example of the “pay to play” and “wine and dine” corruption
that infests California politics, nearly $13,000 of the Western States
Petroleum Association's third quarter spending went toward hosting a
dinner for 12 lawmakers and two staff members in September.
According
to Lauren Rosenhall of the Sacramento Bee, the dinner took place at
"one of Sacramento's poshest venues: The Kitchen, known for its
interactive dining experience where guests sit in the kitchen as cooks
share details of the five-course meal. Moderate Democrats seemed to be
the target audience for the treat: Assembly members Adam Gray, Henry
Perea and Cheryl Brown attended, as did Sens. Norma Torres, Ron Calderon
and Lou Correa."
The
dinner was held on September 4, as Senate Bill 4 was awaiting a vote on
the Assembly floor. The oil industry the next day added amendments that
further weakened the already weak legislation opposed by a broad
coalition of over 100 conservation, environmental justice and consumer
groups, including Food and Water Watch, the Center for Biological
Diversity, the Credo Campaign and California Water Impact Network
(C-WIN).
These amendments including the following:
•
Language added to the bill specifies that “no additional review or
mitigation shall be required” if the supervisor of the Division of Oil,
Gas and Geothermal Resources “determines” that the proposed fracking
activities have met the requirements of the California Environmental
Quality Act.
“This
provision could be used by DOGGR to bypass CEQA’s bedrock environmental
review and mitigation requirements,” according to a statement from the
anti-fracking groups. “This language could also prevent air and water
boards, local land use jurisdictions and other agencies from carrying
out their own CEQA reviews of fracking.”
•
In addition, under existing law, the governor and DOGGR can deny
approvals for wells that involve fracking or place a partial or complete
moratorium on fracking. The new language states that DOGGR “shall
allow” fracking to take place until regulations are finalized in 2015,
provided that certain conditions are met.
"This
could be interpreted to require every fracked well to be approved
between now and 2015, with environmental review conducted only after the
fact, and could be used to block the Governor or DOGGR from issuing a
moratorium on fracking prior to 2015," the groups stated.
At
the last minute, the League of Conservation Voters, NRDC and two other
Senate Bill 4 backers withdrew their support for the legislation.
However, the bill, having been given “green cover” by these NGOs, passed
through the Legislature a week after the dinner.
Governor
Jerry Brown, a strong supporter of the expansion of fracking in
California, then signed the legislation on September 20.
“For
Perea, Correa, Calderon and Torres, the September dinner was not the
first time they'd been treated to The Kitchen by the oil industry. They
were among 11 legislators who attended a Western States Petroleum
Association dinner there last year, valued at nearly $11,000,”
Rosenthall noted.
Oil lobby has spent over $45.4 million since 2009
Prior
to the latest Secretary of State filing, a report released by the
American Lung Association revealed that the oil industry lobby, the
biggest corporate lobby in California, has spent $45.4 million in the
state since 2009. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) alone
has spent over $20 million since 2009.
Oil
and gas companies spend more than $100 million a year to buy access to
lawmakers in Washington and Sacramento, according to Stop Fooling
California, an online and social media public education and awareness
campaign that highlights oil companies’ efforts to mislead and confuse
Californians.
In
addition, Robert Gammon, East Bay Express reporter, revealed that
before Governor Jerry Brown signed Senator Fran Pavley's Senate Bill 4,
Brown accepted at least $2.49 million in financial donations over the
past several years from oil and natural gas interests, according to
public records on file with the Secretary of State's Office and the
California Fair Political Practices Commission.
The
oil industry not only exerts influence by direct contributions to
political campaigns, but by getting its lobbyists and representatives on
key panels like the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Blue Ribbon Task Force.
In
one of biggest environmental scandals of the past decade, Reheis-Boyd
served as chair of the MLPA Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create
alleged "marine protected areas" in Southern California. She also served
on the North Coast, North Central Coast and Central Coast task forces
from 2004 to 2011, from the beginning of the process to the end of the
process.
The
MLPA Initiative process overseen by Reheis-Boyd and other ocean
industrialists created fake "marine protected areas" that fail to
protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, wind and wave
energy projects and all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing
and gathering.
State
officials and representatives of corporate "environmental" NGOs
embraced and greenwashed the "leadership" of Reheis-Boyd and other
corporate operatives who served on the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces to
create “marine protected areas” that fail to actually protect the ocean.
By backing her leadership as a "marine guardian," they helped to
increase the already powerful influence of the Western States Petroleum
Association and the oil industry.
The
California Coastal Commission and other state officials acted
"surprised" when FOIA documents and an Associated Press investigation
revealed that Southern California coastal waters have been fracked
repeatedly, over 200 times according to the latest data. Yet independent
investigative reporters like David Gurney and myself warned, again and
again, that this would happen when an oil industry lobbyist was in
charge of marine "protection."
There's
no doubt that the Western States Petroleum Association, Chevron and
other oil companies use every avenue they can to dominate environmental
policy in California, including lobbying legislators, contributing
heavily to election campaigns, serving on state regulatory panels, and
wining and dining politicians. Until we get the big corporate money out
of politics, California will continue to be awash in a sea of oil
money.
For more information about the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, go to: http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-five-inconvenient-truths-about-the-mlpa-initiative/
For
an depth look at the state of fracking in California, read Glen
Martin's article, "All Fracked Up," in California Lawyer Magazine.
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