Revealed: ExxonMobil’s lobbying war on climate legislation – Senior lobbyist caught on camera, names 11 U.S. senators who are “crucial” to ExxonMobil attacks on climate policy
By Alex Thomson
30 June 2021
(Channel 4 News) – The explosive footage was obtained by Unearthed, Greenpeace UK’s investigative platform, who posed as head-hunters to obtain the information from one of ExxonMobil’s most senior Washington lobbyists.
The recordings appear to reveal the secretive behind-the-scenes activities of a lobbyist for a company that claims in public to support action on climate change while fighting against legislative attempts to tackle it.
ExxonMobil say they “have supported climate science for decades” and accuse Greenpeace of “waging a multi-decade campaign” against their company and industry.
They insist their “lobbying fully comply with all laws and are publicly disclosed on a quarterly basis.”
Did we aggressively fight against some of the science?
Yes.
Did we join some of these “shadow groups” to work against some of the early efforts on climate?
Yes.
Keith McCoy, ExxonMobil’s Senior Director for Federal Relations
‘Shadow groups’
Keith McCoy is a senior ExxonMobil lobbyist on Capitol Hill and has represented the company in its liaison with the US Congress for the last eight years.
Greenpeace UK’s Unearthed platform posed as head-hunters looking to hire a Washington D.C. lobbyist for a major client. They approached Mr McCoy, who agreed to speak over Zoom.
During the covert recordings, which have been passed to Channel 4 News, Mr McCoy claims:
- the company secretly fought against legislative action on climate change using third-party organisations
- he lobbied key senators to remove and/or diminish climate change measures from President Biden’s US $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs bill as it proceeds through the legislative process
- he regards trade bodies like the American Petroleum Institute as “whipping boys” in order to avoid public scrutiny on Capitol Hill
During the virtual meeting held on 7 May 2021, the investigators asked Mr McCoy questions about ExxonMobil’s current and historical lobbying on environmental issues.
In the excerpts from the footage to be broadcast on Channel 4 News tonight, Mr McCoy claims that ExxonMobil has aggressively fought science to deny climate change in order to maximise profit and shareholder return. He alleges that ExxonMobil joined “shadow groups” to pursue climate change denial.
Mr McCoy said: “Did we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes. Did we hide our science? Absolutely not. Did we join some of these shadow groups to work against some of the early efforts? Yes, that’s true. But there’s nothing, there’s nothing illegal about that.
“We were looking out for our investments. We were looking out for our shareholders.”
ExxonMobil told Channel 4 News that they “have supported climate science for decades.”
‘It’s like fishing’
Mr McCoy likens the approach to lobbying congressmen to the way fishermen target fish, claiming that ExxonMobil puts out “bait” and then “reels in” congressmen on issues like carbon tax, electric vehicles, chemicals, taxation and infrastructure.
Mr McCoy said: “When you have an opportunity to talk to a member of Congress, I liken it to fishing, right? You know you have bait, you throw that bait out. And they say: ‘Oh, you want to talk about infrastructure, yeah.’
“And then you start to reel them in and you start to have these conversations about federal leasing programmes, you start to have these conversations about a carbon tax. You know, it’s all these opportunities that you use and to use the fishing analogy again just to kind of reel them in.”
He added: “I make sure I get them the right information that they need so they look good. And then they help me out. They’re a captive audience. They know they need you. And I need them.”
He says lobbyists aim to have a direct relationship with a member of congress, adding: “You want to be able to go to the chief… and say we need congressman so and so to be able to either introduce this bill, we need him to make a floor statement, we need him to send a letter. You name it, we’ve asked for everything.”
‘The Kingmaker’
Mr McCoy names 11 senators who he says are “crucial” to ExxonMobil:
- Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R)
- Senator Joe Manchin (D)
- Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D)
- Senator Jon Tester (D)
- Senator Maggie Hassan (D)
- Senator John Barrasso (R)
- Senator John Cornyn (R)
- Senator Steve Daines (R)
- Senator Chris Coons (D)
- Senator Mark Kelly (D)
- Senator Marco Rubio (R)
We gave all these senators a chance to respond. All the senators declined to comment. There is no suggestion of illegality.
Channel 4 News has established, through Federal Election Commission (FEC) data, that all except two of these senators (Senators Maggie Hassan and Mark Kelly) have received financial contributions from ExxonMobil.
ExxonMobil insists “our lobbying efforts fully comply with all laws and are publicly disclosed on a quarterly basis”.
Mr McCoy described Senator Joe Manchin as “the Kingmaker” in the Senate and he says he spoke to his office on a weekly basis. [more]
Revealed: ExxonMobil’s lobbying war on climate change legislation
