Joe Machin a 'Go To' for Exxon-Mobil

UK's Greenpeace organization revealed a video showing an Exxon-Mobil lobbyist, Keith McCoy, telling an undercover interviewer that he 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. At the top of his go-to list is the senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin. McCoy said friendly senators are, "a captive audience. They know they need you. And I need them." He goes on to name 11 senators who he says are “crucial” to Exxon-Mobil: Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Senator Joe Manchin, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Senator Jon Tester, Senator Maggie Hassan, Senator John Barrasso, Senator John Cornyn, Senator Steve Daines, Senator Chris Coons, Senator Mark Kelly and Senator Marco Rubio. All of these except Kelly and Hassan have received political donations from the company according to FEC data. Eleven members of the Senate—Sens. King (I-Maine), Cassidy (R-La.), Perdue (R-Ga.), Moran (R-Kan.), Kennedy (R-La.), Roberts (R-Kan.), Scott (R-Fla.), Wyden (D-Ore.), Capito (R-W.V.), Collins (R-Maine), and Cruz (R-Texas)—have as much as $856,000 invested in Exxon-Mobil stock. No fossil fuel stock is owned by a greater number of senators.

"Kingmaker" Manchin received at least $12,500 from the Exxon-Mobil Political Action Committee in declared disbursements since the beginning of the 2011-12 election cycle. The oil and gas industry has given $131,000 to Senator Manchin's campaign organizations. Electric utilities, which use fossil fuels, have chipped in $357,102. Manchin is publicly against including climate related provisions, such as a national carbon standard, in any infrastructure bill. He is also against funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, and was the only Democratic senator to vote against protecting the Arctic Wildlife Refuge from drilling in 2017. Manchin has also voted to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, expedite the approval process for natural gas pipelines, and override an Obama administration rule requiring coal companies to protect groundwater from toxic coal mining waste.

McCoy explained his company's efforts to support the 'bipartisan' infrastructure bill pending in the Senate, “That’s a completely different conversation when you start to stick to roads and bridges. And instead of a $2 trillion bill, it’s an $800 billion dollar bill. If you lower that threshold, you stick to highways and bridges then a lot of the negative stuff starts to come out...Why would you put in something on emissions reductions on climate change to oil refineries in a highway bill?” The company says its lobbying efforts are legal, and accused Greenpeace of  "waging a multi-decade campaign against our company and industry, which has included false claims and unlawful actions at our facilities as well as those of other companies around the world." The company spent more than $11 million on expenses related to lobbying the federal government in 2018. Scientists and executives at Exxon-Mobil have known since 1977 that burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming and would have catastrophic effects on the environment, but the company suppressed the information and funded misinformation in order to protect its profits. When the Money Power has bought your elected officials, US Person says, way to go Greenpeace !