Oil billionaires contribute $1 million in support of proposition to suspend global warming law

If anybody is looking for evidence on how much oil companies attempt to shape the political environment, the fact that two oil billionaires have given $1 million in support of a California ballot initiative is all the proof one needs.

David and Charles Koch, oil billionaire brothers and “tea party” backers, made the donation from a subsidiary of Kansas-based Koch Industries, the nation’s second-largest private company, to help the Proposition 23 campaign. Proposition 23 would suspend the global warming law until the state’s unemployment rate dropped below 5.5 percent – something that has only been accomplished three times in the last 30 years.

As it stands now California’s law, AB 32, is intended to cut the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the end of this decade. According to the law, a major portion of the reductions would come through regulations that would foster alternative fuels and generate electricity from solar, wind and other alternative energy sources.

When it passed at the end of 2008, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the law would “unleash the full force of California’s innovative and technology for a healthier planet” and that the plan would be “a road map for the rest of the nation.”

Arguments

Supporters of the ballot measure, including the Koch brothers, have said the current law was bad for the state’s economy and would put people out of work.

“[The law will cause] significant job losses and higher energy costs,” Katie Stavinhoa, a Koch spokeswoman was quoted as saying. “It sets a bad precedent for future regulation by other states and the federal government.”

Charles Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, also said the global warming law did not only affect Californians but also the rest of the nation.

“[The goal of AB 32] is to reduce the use of petroleum,” Drevna said. “What happens in California doesn’t stay in California. Other states are waiting to see … if they can inflict similar harm on their constituents.”

After the Koch brothers made their contribution Schwarzenegger said in a statement that the contribution was “extremely disappointing” and that Proposition 23 backers were “a handful of out-of-state polluters supporting … the oil companies’ dirty energy proposition.”

Politicians

Schwarzenegger has said he considered the global warming law one of his major achievements as governor but that could all be undone by this vote. Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor, has said she was leaning against Proposition 23 but if she were elected she would attempt to suspend the global warming law for a year. Carly Fiorina, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, said in a statement the measure was “a band-aid fix and an imperfect solution to addressing our nation’s climate and energy challenges,” but she would vote for it. She also said “the real solution to these challenges lies not with a single state taking action on its own, but rather a global action.”

California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said during her first televised debate with Fiorina that “if we overturn California’s clean-energy policies, that’s going to mean that China takes the lead away from us with solar, that Germany takes the lead away from us with wind, but I guess my opponent is kind of used to creating jobs in China and other places. I want those jobs created here in America.” She also said in a statement that Fiorina was “out of touch with most Californians” and accused her of “siding with oil companies.”

Democratic candidate for governor Jerry Brown has said he strongly opposed Proposition 23 and said the global warming law in place now would create hundreds of thousands of clean-energy jobs.

According to the Los Angeles Times, as of now the ballot measure has been trailing in most polls, but the contribution is sure to give significant help to the campaign for it. So far, the campaign has raised $8.2 million with 97 percent of that coming from oil interests and 89 percent from out of state.

The campaign against the measure has raised $6.6 million, including $2.5 million from the founder of a San Francisco hedge fund and smaller contributions from environmental groups and clean-technology businesses, according to the Times.

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