House
Democrats opened the congressional debate on climate change Tuesday by
unveiling an ambitious plan to boost renewable energy and simultaneously slash
domestic greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent over the next decade. And
California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is poised to lead the fight in the
Senate.
But the new focus
on climate change in the nation's capital has been accompanied by another
kind of change: an explosion of lobbyists trying to influence the final
shape of proposals by Boxer and Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, and Ed
Markey, D-Mass.
The number of
climate change lobbyists has more than tripled in the past five
years to roughly 2,340 in 2008, according to a Center for Public Integrity
analysis of Senate lobbying disclosure forms. Climate change
lobbyists now outnumber members of Congress by more than a 4 to 1 margin.
The explosion comes at a time when the overall number of Washington
lobbyists has declined from 15,397 to 15,139 over the past year,
according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
'Huge, huge deal'
"The bottom line
is, this is a huge, huge deal," said Jeffrey Holmstead a lobbyist with Bracewell
& Giuliani, a top climate lobbying firm. "In terms of its importance
to the U.S. economy and the energy sector, (climate change) is really a
much bigger deal than anything that has come before Congress. The stakes are
very, very high."
The climate
change cadre spans the political spectrum, from environmental activists and
Hollywood stars on the left to conservatives who argue global warming is a hoax.
But at the center of the debate are California environmentalists.
Environmental
groups have stepped up their lobbying efforts and have about 180
lobbyists on Capitol Hill, as opposed to less than 50 five years
ago.
San Francisco's
green giant, the Sierra Club, spent more than seven times as much money on
environmental lobbying in last year than it did five years ago, up from $100,000
in 2003 to $730,000 in 2008.
The Environmental
Defense Fund, which has regional offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and
Sacramento, filed 21 lobbying reports under the issue "environment and
superfund." It filed only four in 2007.
Even so, business
and energy lobbyists outnumber environmental lobbyists and
alternative energy lobbyists by a margin of 8 to 1, says Marianne
Lavelle, a staff writer for the Center for Public Integrity.
The increase in
corporate lobbying is "alarming," says Frank O'Donnell, president of the
environmental watchdog group Clean Air Watch. Because it will be too difficult
to satisfy the demands of large numbers of lobbyists and their clients,
it will be more difficult for Congress to pass legislation, he
said.
"Blocking
controversial legislation is always easier than passing it," he said.
Tony Kreindler, an
Environmental Defense Fund spokesman, says his organization is well aware of the
challenge.
A bit of David and Goliath
"It is a bit of a
David and Goliath situation," he said. "We may be outnumbered compared to
industry muscle, however we do have quite a bit of forward-looking companies who
are pushing for action."
The bill introduced
Tuesday by Waxman and Markey would tie the reductions to a mandatory
cap-and-trade system, under which oil refineries, manufacturers and other
industrial operations could comply with escalating new nationwide limits on
carbon dioxide by buying and selling allowances to release the heat-trapping
pollutant
Boxer, chair of the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says she'll do her best to work
with anyone who seeks to move legislation quickly.
"The lobbying
activity is divided into two: those who understand the need to act to avert
catastrophe, and those who are pushing for no action," she said. "What guides me
is the science, and therefore I am doing everything I can to move forward on an
action plan."
The boom in
climate change lobbying, some experts say, can be traced to the passage
of an energy bill in late 2007 when members of Congress wrangled over whether to
require utilities to use renewable energy sources. The provision was eventually
dropped from the bill, but it pointed the way the green debate was going. During
the presidential campaign, both candidates Barack Obama and John McCain endorsed
a significant shift in Bush-era climate policies, forcing companies to
face a new political reality no matter which candidate
prevailed.
Waxman and three
other Democratic House leaders sent an open letter to President Obama Friday
declaring "now is the time for Congress to pass comprehensive energy and
climate legislation," calling it "both economically and politically
achievable."
The House bill
introduced Tuesday could be the best shot at getting climate legislation
passed, O'Donnell said. The Senate, including the Boxer's committee, "is lying
low for now" and letting the House move first, he added.
Cap and trade is costly
The approach to
climate change favored by the Obama administration and top congressional
Democrats, called cap-and-trade, would significantly increase the costs of doing
business for energy companies. Businesses that are heavy energy consumers also
would be forced to pay higher taxes.
With so much at
stake, energy companies are bulking up by hiring the top lobbying talent
available. Chevron, for example, hired Drew Maloney, who served as legislative
director for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Dynegy Inc., a
Houston-based natural gas and coal giant, paid Bracewell & Giuliani $200,000
for "strategic advice on energy and environmental issues" and other lobbying,
according to reports from the Senate Office of Public Records.
But while just
about every energy company has a stake in the game, they're not all on the same
side.
ConocoPhillips and
Shell Oil, for instance, are working with the Environmental Defense Fund in a
coalition called the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. It is pushing for
Congress on greenhouse gas reduction.
"There are more
people saying 'Yes, we've got to do something' than there are saying 'no,' "
EDF's Kreindler said.
With the battle
about to begin, Boxer also is optimistic.
"At the end of the
day, when we act, we will not only avert the catastrophe of global warming, we
will also create millions of green jobs," she said, "and so we are pushing
harder than ever to address this issue."
This article
appeared on page A - 13 of the San Francisco Chronicle
