How Many Lobbyists Does it Take to Screw In a Lightbulb?
Follow the Money
As we watch the dollars going to alternative energy and exciting new transportation options in the stimulus package, it’s always fascinating to see who will actually be on the receiving end of these huge checks. The answer to that question isn’t out yet, but a good way to guess who gets what piece of the pie might be at hand.
The Center for Public Integrity has put out a study on the number of lobbyists on Capitol Hill who have spent some time on Global Warming, and the numbers are amazingly high. Marianne Lavelle, writing for the center, lays it out:
“A Center for Public Integrity analysis of Senate lobbying disclosure forms shows that more than 770 companies and interest groups hired an estimated 2,340 lobbyists to influence federal policy on climate change in the past year, as the issue gathered momentum and came to a vote on Capitol Hill. That’s an increase of more than 300 percent in the number of lobbyists on climate change in just five years, and means that Washington can now boast more than four climate lobbyists for every member of Congress. It also means that 15 percent of all Washington lobbyists spent at least some of their time on global warming in 2008, based on a tally of the total number of influence-peddlers on Capitol Hill by the Center for Responsive Politics.”
The Only Growth Industry
The sheer number of lobbyists shows the stakes with which our society is viewing the green movement, and it confirms that millions and millions are being spent simply trying to influence legislation one way or the other. This makes perfect sense given the amount of money the Obama administration seems to be willing to put on the table. It also makes sense when you consider how much the rest of economy is falling flat, meaning that any area of growth is bound to attract a lot of interest.
So, if we know who is paying for access, we have a pretty good guess on what is going into future legislation! Don’t worry, the Center for Public Integrity tracked that one too.
While this mind boggling increase in public focus is probably a good thing for the environment overall, the problem comes with that favorite political bugaboo: special interests. It is a double edged sword in my mind: on the one hand any spending along these lines seems to be moving us in the right direction. On the other, pet projects could both hurt public perception of the bailout and waste huge amounts of money on things that are outside the “core” of the green energy revolution. (I’ll leave it up to you, dear reader, to decide what you think that core is).
Who’s Who?
What I found the most interesting was the list of lobbyists who have worked on the issue in one way or the other, including Former Republican Representative Robert L. Livingston from Louisiana on one side of the aisle and Former Democratic Representative Richard Gephardt from Missouri on the other. When it comes to the business side, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity stands out, as do good old standbys like the Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club. But what strikes me as the most emblematic change is this:
You can’t have a market without marketers. And so another broad interest group is now weighing in on climate — Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch (both before and after it was swallowed by Bank of America), insurance companies such as American International Group (before it was forced by public outcry to quit lobbying a few weeks after its takeover by the government), private equity firms, and a host of little-known carbon-focused financial players.
The directions toward which these groups are able to move, and the amount of input they will inevitably have, remains to be seen.
Image: Courtesy of Power Shift 09
Living green t just a fad. It is a way of life. Our Native Americans lived that way. We should learn from them