Lobbying

Chamber Uses Virtual Astroturf, Food and Female Sexuality to Fight Health Care Reform

by Anne Landman — December 17, 2009 - 1:34pm

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring online pop-up ads to try and generate the appearance of "grassroots" opposition to health care reform.

Main Source: 
TPMMuckraker, December 15, 2009

Will Copenhagen Resuscitate Carbon Capture and Storage?

by Bob Burton — December 16, 2009 - 12:33pm
  • Topics: Global Warming, International, Lobbying

    • In a final end-game bid, the governments of Saudi Arabia and Australia are frantically trying to shoe-horn support for the experimental Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology into a final agreement from the COP15 conference in Copenhagen. By the end of the first week of negotiations, promoters of the technology failed to win support from one of the major committees of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

    But just two days later, draft text prepared by the chair of one of the two 'tracks' of UNFCCC negotiations threw a lifeline to the coal and power generation industries by flagging that whether or not to include CCS in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as one of the most important issues requiring resolution. Including CCS projects in the CDM would provide a massive financial incentive for the development of trial CCS projects, most of which would be attached to massive new coal-fired power stations in developing countries. And this is just what groups such as the World Coal Institute and the International Emissions Trading Association have been lobbying for.

    Polluters Pose as Saviors at Copenhagen

    by Bob Burton — December 13, 2009 - 8:48pm

    Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), a European lobbying industry watchdog, notes that the largest non-government delegation at the COP15 conference in Copenhagen is the 486-strong squad from the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).

    Main Source: 
    Corporate Europe Observatory, December 12, 2008

    Insurers Trick Facebook Users Into Opposing Health Care Reform

    by Anne Landman — December 11, 2009 - 11:02pm

    A coalition of insurance industry groups called "Get Health Reform Right," led by Blue Cross Blue Shield and including America's Health Insurance Plans, the American Benefits Council and others, has been caught tricki

    Main Source: 
    The Business Insider, December 9, 2009

    Oil and Gas Billionaire David Koch Funding Fight Against Health Care Reform

    by Anne Landman — December 10, 2009 - 9:20am

    Early in November, thousands of angry protesters flocked to Capitol Hill to listen to House Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) rail against a supposed "government takeover" of health care.

    Main Source: 
    Boston.Com (Boston Globe), December 6, 2009

    Blue Cross Working to Make Health Care Reform Unconstitutional

    by Anne Landman — December 8, 2009 - 1:57pm

    Health insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield has been quietly working with the conservative, pro-business front group, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to pass legislation that uses the issue of states' rights as a pretext for declaring healthcare reform unconstitutional.

    Main Source: 
    Raw Story, December 7, 2009

    Dragging Anchor

    by Bob Burton — December 7, 2009 - 9:35pm
  • Topics: Global Warming, International, Lobbying

    • If a captain fell asleep at the helm of an oil tanker traversing dangerous waters, the ship owners and the public would demand that they never be put in command of a ship again. But, despite 12 years of being asleep at the wheel, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized United Nations agency responsible for international shipping, is demanding that it be re-appointed to have sole responsibility for addressing the rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector.

    Expensive Tastes

    by Bob Burton — December 7, 2009 - 12:31am

    The British Conservative Party is offering major donors the "opportunity to discuss the party's PR strategy" in the run up to the 2010 general election. As part of its fundraising strategy, donors which contribute over £50,000 a year become members of the Leader's Group. An email leaked to PR Week reveals that Leader's Group members are offered the option of having lunch with Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, following Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

    Main Source: 
    PR Week UK, December 3, 2009

    Boom for Business Lobbyists at Climate Talks

    by Bob Burton — December 4, 2009 - 4:17am

    Channel Four in the United Kingdom reports that, according to official figures, "the number of delegates and lobbyists taking part in United Nations climate change talks has trebled in the past 12 years." Olivier Hoedeman, from Corporate Europe Observatory, observed that "there has been a very substantial increase in the number of lobby groups going to these summits and it’s not as people would probably imagine – it is often business groups rather than environmental ones." At the Kyoto conference in December 1997, there were 3,663 p

    Main Source: 
    Channel 4 (UK), December 2009

    The Airline Industry's Global Warming Denial

    by Bob Burton — December 1, 2009 - 6:28pm
  • Topics: Global Warming, Energy, Lobbying

    • Giovanni Bisignani, the director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), is a worried man. As the head of the global civil aviation's main lobby group, which represents companies such as American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Qantas, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, Bisignani (right) has been frantically working to ensure that IATA isn't stripped of its its exemption from the Kyoto Protocol at the COP15 conference, which opens in Copenhagen next week.

     

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