Energy Firms Battling Over Climate Change Legislation

October 19, 2009

The New York Times reports in a front page story, "As the Senate prepares to tackle global warming, the nation's energy producers, once united, are battling one another over policy decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades." Some "supporters of global warming legislation believe that the division in the once-monolithic oil and gas industry, as well as other splits among energy producers, could improve the prospects for the legislation." The American Petroleum Institute trade group, "dominated by major oil companies, opposes the legislation, saying it would discourage domestic exploration and lead to higher oil prices." But some natural gas companies, "though longtime members of the institute, have formed a separate lobby and are working actively with the bill's sponsors to cut a better deal for their product." But the "biggest fights are among energy producers. They have spent more than $200 million in the first half of the year on lobbying efforts in Washington."