Breaux, J $en

NO MERRI

see LOTT rev dr LOBBYIST BIPART BS?

Breaux, John (D-LA) //MANCHINIMA?

ref clc

https://www.climatedocket.com/**2018/10**/09/exxon-carbon-tax-climate-liability/

 Savage

Exxon has announced it will pledge $1 million to Americans for Carbon Dividends, an advocacy campaign that backs a carbon tax plan, but one that would be coupled with rollbacks to environmental regulations and:{ ending climate liability suits:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:.

The Baker-Schultz Plan—named for its lead authors, former secretaries of state James A. Baker III and George P. Shultz—:{proposes:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: a gradually rising carbon tax, with 100 percent of the proceeds paid to Americans in a monthly dividend. It was unveiled last year by the:{Climate Leadership Council:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, a nonprofit policy institute founded by author and policy entrepreneur Ted Halstead.

The council’s founding members include Exxon and other oil and corporate giants—among them, BP, Shell, Johnson & Johnson—as well as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former fed chairmanBen Bernanke.Greg Bertelsen, the council’s senior vice president, called Exxon’s donation a significant step in U.S. climate policy.

“It represents the first time an oil and gas oil major has made a significant contribution in support of a campaign to put a price on carbon,” said Bertelsen, who formerly served as senior director for energy and resources policy for theNational Association of Manufacturers.

In return for what is a modest tax, the Baker-Schultz plan also calls for the rollback of greenhouse gas emissions regulations and an “end to federal and state tort liability for emitters.” That means the federal government would no longer have the ability to regulate climate pollutants and courts would have no role in determining whether industry should pay for impacts already caused by fossil fuel-driven global warming.

Kert Davies, director of the Climate Investigations Center, said it’s significant that when the plan was launched, no corporate members were involved publically.

“The most interesting thing to me is how Exxon has been behind this the whole way but was intentionally hidden from view,” Davies said.

“Are they shy? No, they know the optics,” he added.

Americans For Carbon Dividends is:{co-chaired:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: by former Senators Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.), whose lobbying firm**:{was hired:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:** to promote the plan. And according to its:{website:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, its communications is being led by Richard Keil, a former senior media relations advisor for Exxon.Keil is listed as a managing director for Hill+Knowlton, the firm that once represented tobacco companies as they tried to escape liability for the devastating health effects of smoking.

Exxon’s announcement came a day after the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued:{ a landmark report:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: warning that climate change is a much more dire and immediate problem than previously thought. In the report, scientists call for “unprecedented” action that would be needed to combat the effects of climate change.

To prevent catastrophic climate change, carbon emissions must be reduced by 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050, the report says. The use of renewable energy to generate electricity must increase from about 20 percent today to about 67 percent by 2050. It also calls for a robust carbon tax, large enough to raise the cost of fossil fuels to drive down their use and raise enough money to offset their detrimental impact on the climate.

“A price on carbon is central to prompt mitigation,” said the report’s authors. They estimate that to achieve needed emissions reductions, the price per ton of carbon dioxide pollution must range from $135 to $5,500 in 2030, and from $690 to $27,000 per ton by 2100.

:{A recent study:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: by the University of Massachusetts found a carbon tax would have to reach $200 a ton to change consumer behavior and to keep low-income consumers from absorbing a disproportionately high amount of the costs.

The Baker-Schulz Plan starts the tax at $40 per metric ton, far below what the studies say would significantly reduce emissions. The plan does not specify how much it will rise or how the increases will be determined.

Bertelsen said that’s a detail that will be worked out over time by the council’s founding members, which in addition to the oil giants includes corporate giants P & G, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsico, and Exelon. Bernanke, Bloomberg and former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman are also founding members, along with the environmental organization The Nature Conservancy.

When asked repeatedly whether founding members would reconsider their stance on climate litigation, Bertelsen would only say that the Council is focused on solving the climate problem and transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

Exxon spokesman Scott Silvestri :{told Bloomberg:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: that applying a uniform cost across the economy is consistent with Exxon’s principles on how to manage the risk of climate change. He said the company has consistently backed a carbon tax that returns proceeds to the public and not the government, but Exxon :{has also long supported organizations:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: like the American Legislative Exchange Council that have lobbied vigorously against carbon taxes of any kind.

Under the plan, U.S. taxpayers would benefit from monthly dividend payments, but none of the proceeds would help cities and states pay the skyrocketing costs of climate mitigation and adaptation.

Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy and chief climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said he remains skeptical and suggested the oil giant lay out a plan for bringing company-wide carbon emissions to net-zero by mid-century. That would be consistent with the Paris Climate Agreement that Exxon also says it supports.

“I’ll take ExxonMobil claims of support for a carbon dividend seriously when it stops providing far larger sums to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other lobbying groups that oppose the same climate policies,” Frumhoff said.

==

Senator John B. Breaux "joined Patton Boggs as Senior Counsel upon his retirement from the United States Senate in 2005. He provides strategic advice to the firm’s attorneys and clients on a wide range of public policy matters, with special concentration in the areas of health care and energy law.

Lobbying in health care debate

As a former senator, John Breaux fought against allowing drug prices to be negotiated in Medicare Part D. A year after the passage of the bill creating Medicare Part D, Breaux left the Senate and began a career in lobbying. He now has his own lobbying firm, Breaux Lott Leadership Group, which so far by October, 2009 had received $300,000 to lobby for thepharmaceutical industry.^[1]

Biographical information

"Senator Breaux led a long and distinguished career in Congress. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1972 at the age of 28—at the time of his election he was the youngest member of the US Congress. He represented the 7th District of Louisiana for 14 years before being elected to fill Senator Russell Long's seat in 1986.

"Senator Breaux was a widely recognized bipartisan leader in the Senate, and in 1993 was elected by his Democratic colleagues to the post of Deputy Minority Whip, a position he held until his retirement. He also held a number of key Senate committee positions. A senior member of the Finance Committee, Senator Breaux served as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy. He also held positions on two other Finance subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Health Care and the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight. From his position on the Finance Committee, he played instrumental roles in forging the compromises that led to passage of the welfare reform and health insurance reform bills in 1996. He was also a leader in the efforts to reduce the capital gains tax and to provide tax relief for college education expenses.

"While in the Senate, Senator Breaux was a recognized leader on energy issues. He served as Co-Chair of the Oil and Gas Caucus and was a conferee on energy legislation that eventually was written into the 2005 Energy Bill.Senator Breaux was active in advancing legislation to promote domestic oil and gas production, and was a Co-Sponsor of the Marginal Well Preservation Act, a tax-incentive program to encourage oil production from marginal oil wells. He was also a principal author of the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act.

"Senator Breaux was a founder of the Centrist Coalition of Senate Democrats and Republicans and served as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council. In 2005 President George W. Bush appointed Senator Beaux as the Co-Chair of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, while in 2006, Senator Breaux was chosen to be a member of the Advisory Committee on Transformational Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State." ^[2]

• Trustee, Meridian International Center

Resources and articleS

References

1. ↑ Olga Pierce Medicare Drug Planners Now Lobbyists, with Billions at Stake ProPublica, October 20, 2009
2. ↑ John B. Breaux, Patton Boggs, accessed July 25, 2007.

  Member(1 result)

• Breaux, John (D-LA)

  Personal Finances(1 result)

• Breaux, John (D-La) 2004

  Revolving Door(1 result)

• Breaux, John

  Lobbyist(3 results)

• Breaux, John 2012
• Breaux, John Jr 2008
• Breaux, Lynne 2009

  PAC Treasurer(1 result)

• DANIELLE BREAUX2006

First Elected:1972

Leadership PAC (1): 

Mainstream America PAC

Career Fundraising

1989 - 2012 Total Receipts:	$8,402,185
1989 - 2012 Total Spent:	$8,920,926
Debts:	$0
Last Report:	Monday, October 15, 2007

Top 5 Contributors, 1989 - 2012

...view more data

Top 5 Industries, 1989 - 2012

...view more data

Source of Funds

	Individual Contributions	$3,736,148	(44%)
	PAC Contributions	$3,612,137	(43%)
	Candidate self-financing	$0	(0%)
	Other	$1,053,900	(13%)

lobby firm

Total Lobbying Income: $11,830,000

Groups That Have Retained Breaux Lott Leadership Group:| Client | Total | Subsidiary (Lobbied For) | Industry |