US lobby seeks to derail Kyoto measures
H. E. Taylor
<http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article331768.ece>
A detailed and disturbing strategy document has revealed an
extraordinary American plan to destroy Europe's support for the
Kyoto treaty on climate change.
The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent
this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the
second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal.
It was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and
the German utility giant RWE.
Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group
partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and
a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks
to draw together major international companies, academics,
think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across
Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support
for the treaty.
It details just how the so-called "European Sound Climate Policy Coalition"
would work. Based in Brussels, the plan would have anti-Kyoto position
papers, expert spokesmen, detailed advice and networking instantly
available to any politician or company who wanted to question
the wisdom of proceeding with Kyoto and its demanding cuts
in carbon dioxide emissions.
It has been drawn up by Chris Horner, a senior official with the
Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute and a veteran
campaigner against Kyoto and against the evidence of climate change.
One of his colleagues -- who describes himself as an adviser
to President George Bush -- was the subject of a censure motion
by the Commons last year after he attacked the Government's chief scientist.
Mr Horner, whose CEI group has received almost $1.5m (£865,000)
from ExxonMobil, is convinced that Europe could be successfully
influenced by such a policy coalition just as the US government has been.
He thinks Europe's weakening economies are likely to be increasingly
ill at ease with the costs of meeting Kyoto. And in particular, he has
spotted something he thinks most of Europe has not yet woken up to.
Most of the original 15 EU Kyoto signatories -- Britain is an exception --
are on course to miss their 2010 CO2 reduction targets. But under the
terms of the treaty, they will face large fines for doing so, in
terms of much bigger reduction targets in any second phase.
These will prove unacceptably costly to their economies, Mr Horner
believes, even if they try to buy their way out by buying up "spare"
emissions for cash from countries such as Russia. Mr Horner believes
the moment for his coalition is at hand and has been seeking support
for it from multinational companies. In his pitch to one major company,
he wrote: "In the US an informal coalition has helped successfully
to avert adoption of a Kyoto-style programme by maintaining a rational
voice for civil society and ensuring a legitimate debate over climate
economics, science and politics. This model should be emulated... to
guide similar efforts in Europe."
Elsewhere he claimed: "A coalition addressing the economic and social
impacts of the EU climate agenda must be broad-based (cross industry)
and rooted in the member states. Other companies (including Lufthansa,
Exxon, Ford) have already indicated their interest!"
Last night green groups hit out. Kert Davies, Greenpeace's climate
campaign co-ordinator, which initially obtained the documents, said:
"These are the hitmen for the Bush administration and the likes of Exxon.
They are behind the scenes doing the dirty work. They are extending
efforts to Europe where they are trying to undermine the momentum
to solve global warming."
While there is nothing illegal about the lobbying, the documents reveal
a rare insight into the well-funded efforts within the US to influence
opinion at senior levels of European corporations. Campaigners say the
campaign is similar to a notorious lobbying effort carried out during
the 1990s to undermine support for Kyoto within the US.
The revelation comes as international negotiators in Montreal are
discussing the next step within Kyoto and the possibility of introducing
new emissions targets. The Bush administration -- which has rejected the
treaty -- has insisted it will not agree to any measures that legally
bind it to reduce emissions. Mr Horner has been present this week in Montreal.
When contacted by The Independent, Mr Horner confirmed the strategy
document was the draft of a presentation he sent to RWE. He defended
his lobbying effort saying "that is what I do". He said he simply
promoted a point of view, as did Greenpeace. "I don't begrudge them
what they do [but] they begrudge me what I do," he said.
Asked if he thought it was appropriate for a major American oil
company to be funding a lobbyist targeting European companies,
he replied: "Everybody else does." But Mr Horner, who is also a
senior figure within the Cool Heads Coalition, a group that
questions the evidence of global warming and opposes any policies
to "ration" energy, claimed his efforts to influence opinion
in Europe had been unsuccessful. He said RWE had not taken up the
suggestions contained within his presentation, and that other
companies had also rejected his ideas.
"I don't know why it's surprising [I have lobbied European companies],"
he said. "What is surprising to me is why it's not working." Ford
and RWE confirmed that they and other companies had met Mr Horner
and other advocates in Brussels last February. He had not been paid
any fee nor had they contributed to his expenses. Mr Horner apparently
travelled to Europe at the request of the European Enterprise
Industry, a fledgling group hoping to emulate the CEI.
Bill McAndrews, a spokesman for RWE, said: "He met with [us and]
other German companies in Brussels. Brussels is the EU capital,
there are a lot of people who come to meet. We have not approached
him since then." He added: "RWE talks to all sorts of people. We
talk with Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund. We discuss matters
with all opinions. It's important to hear everybody's side on such
a global issue. It does not mean that RWE shares that opinion."
In a statement, ExxonMobil, said: "The notion adopted by some groups
... that only their views and only their funding and lobbying are
acceptable is, in our opinion, not helpful to the debates vital
to developing good public policy."
Adrian Schmitt, a spokesman for Ford Europe, said Mr Horner had met
with company representatives on one occasion "at a Brussels level".
He insisted that Ford had not supported Mr Horner's opinions.
"Exactly the opposite. Our position is that climate change is a
serious issue and appropriate steps need to be taken now."
He said that the company had been one of the first companies to
withdraw its support for the Global Climate Coalition -- a
now-defunct lobbying effort that worked to oppose US reductions
in greenhouse gas emissions during the late Nineties.
See also:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1661741,00.html>
2005/12/07: Guardian(UK): Oil industry targets EU climate policy -
US lobby seeks to derail Kyoto measures
<regards>
-het
--
"Eventually, the world will no longer be divided by the ideologies
of 'left' and 'right,' but by those who accept ecological limits
and those who don't." -Wolfgang Sachs, Wuppertal Institute
Global Warming News: http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~het/enviro/gwnews.html
H.E. Taylor http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~het/
Roger Coppock
but the sneaky way the fossil fools do it is shameful.
They must be getting old or tired of it, however. Their
current crop of USENET trolls is a bunch of morons.
hanson
news:1134029779.2...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
How come? Aint's that a shame.....ahahahaha... ahahahahahanson
Eric Swanson
>
>2005/12/08: Independent(UK): How America plotted to stop Kyoto deal
><http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article331768.ece>
>
>A detailed and disturbing strategy document has revealed an
>extraordinary American plan to destroy Europe's support for the
>Kyoto treaty on climate change.
>
>The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent
>this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the
>second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal.
>It was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and
>the German utility giant RWE.
>
>Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group
>partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and
>a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks
>to draw together major international companies, academics,
>think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across
>Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support
>for the treaty.
>
>It details just how the so-called "European Sound Climate Policy Coalition"
>would work.
Maybe these guys should be charged with criminal conspiracy under the RICO
act. Woops, they are based in Europe. So, is it illegal for American
companies to influence the political process in Europe? sort of like
Tom DeLay in Texas, using corporate funds to change the balance of power.
When push comes to shove, I kind of like the threat issued to the Timorees
(sp?) by the Indonesians:
"We will kill your family to the 7th generation..."
That was from a retrospective story on NPR about the massacres 25 years ago.
--
Eric Swanson --- E-mail address: e_swanson(at)skybest.com :-)
--------------------------------------------------------------
John H
"hanson" <han...@quick.net> wrote in message
news:J8Wlf.8819$567.5440@trnddc01...
ahahaha.... awe... awe.... is EVERYBODY cranking you, Roger?
> How come? Aint's that a shame.....ahahahaha... ahahahahahanson
Dick-head.
John
hanson
news:4398...@clear.net.nz...
> "hanson" <han...@quick.net> wrote in message news:J8Wlf.8819$567.5440@trnddc01...
> ahahaha.... awe... awe.... is EVERYBODY cranking you, Roger?
>
> Dick-head.
> John
>
.....ahahahaha... AHAHAHA... it is not quite clear whether you refer to
yourself as a Dick-head or as a being John, either being quite unsavory.
However what is quite clear is that my post made you crank yourself
even more than it and/or they cranked Roger....awe... awe.... ahahaha....
You really appear to be a touchy feely class 3 enviro filled with
solidarity... a bit like a brick in a crumbling wall.... ahahahaha...
How come? Ain't that a shame too....ahahahaha... ahahahaha...
Thanks for the laughs... ahahahahahanson
PS:
Modern, attributal definitions of enviro classifications:
========= enviro Class (1) --- the Green shit(s):
...are the ones who advocate, promote, support, legalize,
institute and extort the permit charges, the user fees, the
enviro surtaxes and the CO2/Carbon tax, all reflected in
HIGHER PRICES of goods and services!, ...and being
responsible for much of the OUT-SOURCING!
========= enviro Class (2) -- the Green turd(s):
... are the ones who are recipients and beneficiaries from
the lootings of (1), directly or indirectly.
========= enviro Class (3) -- the Little green idiot(s):
.. are the unpaid, well-meaning ones who think they do
something for the "environment", when in fact they are only
the enablers and facilitators for (2) who are harvesting the
green $$$ that (1) has extorted.
hanson
news:dn9gv9$60i9$2...@news3.infoave.net...
h...@despam.autobahn.mb.ca says... In article
<4397E7...@despam.autobahn.mb.ca>, >>
>>2005/12/08: Independent(UK): How America plotted to stop Kyoto deal
>><http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article331768.ece>
>>A detailed and disturbing strategy document has revealed an
>>extraordinary American plan to destroy Europe's support for the
>>Kyoto treaty on climate change.
>>The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent
>>this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the
>>second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal.
>>It was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and
>>the German utility giant RWE.
>>Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group
>>partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and
>>a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks
>>to draw together major international companies, academics,
>>think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across
>>Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support
>>for the treaty.
>>It details just how the so-called "European Sound Climate Policy
>>Coalition" would work.
>
Eric, there is a vast difference between "would work" and "does work".
"would" is just a "Potential", that favorite word you greenies so love.
>
[Eric]
> Maybe these guys should be charged with criminal conspiracy under the
> RICO act. Woops, they are based in Europe. So, is it illegal for American
> companies to influence the political process in Europe? sort of like Tom
> DeLay in Texas, using corporate funds to change the balance of power.
>
Right Eric, "Maybe" is the operative word. But AFA Delay I must give
him kudos, big time, for he was one of the very few who stood up and
voiced concern at the peak season when the green shits went rampant
and wantonly destroyed 100'000's of small business with their uneven
enviro fee structure demands, with charging them 1000 to 10'000 times
the fee burden-load per employee when compared to the large corps.
and multi nationals (who, to boot,had lawyers that sued the regulators).
This travesty still bleeds thru the system & reverberates today in form
of the massive outsourcing, & the current & announced plant shut downs.
The regulatory green shits, under the cheerful cajoling of the ignorant
fanatical little green idiots, fucked over scores of little people, like you!!
And it would have been even worse, were it not for a few heroic congs
who at least stood up, like DeLay did. -- Having said that, Eric, we should
all learn from such experiences and ALWAYS keep a jaundiced eye on
anybody whom we've trusted with the exercise of power: LEFT or RIGHT.
>
[Swanson]
> When push comes to shove, I kind of like the threat issued to the
> Timorees (sp?) by the Indonesians:
> "We will kill your family to the 7th generation..." That was from a
> retrospective story on NPR about the massacres 25 years ago.
>
ahahaha... Eric, your dream sounds so sick & vengeful, so Jewish.
The Timor Muslims must have picked up that ancient Jew shit
from the Torah and transferred it into their Quran...
You wanna be like them, Eric?.... ahahaha... Is being Green being
filled with hatred like that... having murder and genocide for babies
and the unborn on their mind... some kind of environment....
ahahaha... ahahahanson
Well Done
<snip>
>sort of like
>Tom DeLay in Texas, using corporate funds to change the balance of power.
"using corporate funds to change the balance of power". Amusing.
What an amazing twist on the truth. How do assholes like you manage
to actually post such evidence of your density and ignorance?
DeLay got more money from corps than the Dems did, so a few idiots on
the left pretend it's a crime. Astounding. Keep it comin', loser.
--
): "I may make you feel, but I can't make you think" :(
(: Off the monitor, through the modem, nothing but net :)
hanson
news:hv9hp1dce9rlcm4gt...@4ax.com...
> swa...@notspam.net (Eric Swanson) wrote:
> <snip>
>>sort of like Tom DeLay in Texas, using corporate funds to change
>> the balance of power.
> <snip>
> WD: Amusing. What an amazing twist on the truth.
> How do assholes like you manage to actually post such
> evidence of your density and ignorance? DeLay got
> more money from corps than the Dems did, so a few idiots on
> the left pretend it's a crime. Astounding. Keep it comin', loser.
> --
ahahahaha.... Yeah, yeah, yeah!... Tell'em WD, hone'em well!
See, greenies and lefties never had any polish... What you see
here are wilting hippies in their geriatric phase, unwashed since
ever their mom's washed them for the last time. That was before
they became flower children.... ahahaha... ahahahanson
Steve Bloom
"Well Done" <Well...@WellHoned.com> wrote in message
news:hv9hp1dce9rlcm4gt...@4ax.com...
> <snip>
>>sort of like
>>Tom DeLay in Texas, using corporate funds to change the balance of power.
> <snip>
> "using corporate funds to change the balance of power". Amusing.
> What an amazing twist on the truth. How do assholes like you manage
> to actually post such evidence of your density and ignorance?
> DeLay got more money from corps than the Dems did, so a few idiots on
> the left pretend it's a crime. Astounding. Keep it comin', loser.
> --
wants to for federal purposes. The trick is that it is illegal to spend any
of it on TX legislative races. Whether he succeeded or not in changing the
balance of power is quite beside the point.
Atheist 4 Bush (reformed)
Combining paranoia and hypocrisy,
- it's the US' fault!