Dirty Fuel, Dirty Money: Congress Is Awash in Contributions from and Investments in the Fossil Fuel Industry

Capitol Hill is greased by oil money. In the House, Speaker Boehner leads the pack

Much to the relief of environmentalists and ranchers -- two factions often on opposite sides of the table -- President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. In a statement, he said that "the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline's impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment."[1]

But the story about the controversial Canadian project that aims to transport toxic crude oil from tar sands in Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico -- going through some of America's most pristine wilderness, including over 700 rivers -- is far from over. The pipeline could receive approval at a later date, and Congressional Republicans are looking for a way to circumvent the president and the State Department, which has jurisdiction over the project because it crosses national boundaries.

DRIVEN BY GREED: PUSHING LEGISLATION FOR SELF-PROFIT

"Every option is on the table," House speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) told Chris Matthews on Fox News Sunday. "We're going to do everything we can to try to make sure that this Keystone pipeline is, in fact, approved."[2]

What Boehner neglected to mention was that, according to financial disclosure records, he invested between USD 10,000-50,000 each in seven different oil companies -- BP, Canadian Natural Resources, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, Devon Energy and Exxon -- all of which have a stake in Canada's tar sands, in December 2010. He also invested in Emerson Electric, which has been contracted to provide digital automation for the USD 9.4 billion Horizon Oil Sands Project in Canada.[3]

CAPITOL HILL: BUILT ON A PILE OF CASH

But the oil money flow is a two-way street on Capitol Hill. According to a 2011 analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Oil Change International, the oil, coal and gas industries contributed more than USD 25 million to Congressional campaigns between 2009 and 2010. In 2010, Boehner received the most among the members of the House, raking in almost USD 400,000. In the upper house, Senator John Cornyn (R.-Texas) was the top recipient of fossil fuel industry contributions, getting close to USD 2 million.[4]

The report's authors note that Congress members voting against repealing the more than USD 4 billion in federal tax breaks and subsidies for the fossil fuel sector "are receiving significantly more money from the dirty energy industries than those that vote for repealing subsidies. The same situation prevails with members voting for preventing the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases."[5]

THE RICH, THE POWERFUL, THE ETHICALLY CHALLENGED

While clearly a conflict of interest, the personal stake that some members of Congress have in the highly politicized USD 7 billion Keystone project is just one instance of questionable ethics involving the personal finances of nation's highest public servants, who were recently thrown into the spotlight in a 60 Minutes story about how they can legally trade stock using insider information.[6]

Commenting on that story, Zachary Karabell, president of River Twice Capital and a senior advisor for Business for Social Responsibility, wrote, "That Congress has fewer ethical restrictions than either journalists or bankers says something about just how ethically challenged it actually is."[7] But while we may blame our representatives in Congress, we share some of the blame. After all, we voted for them. H.L. Mencken put it best: "People deserve the government they get, and they deserve to get it good and hard."

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