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<p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/holy-relics-and-celebrity-mementos-put-heaven-within-reach/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/holy-relics-and-celebrity-mementos-put-heaven-within-reach/</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>US lobby groups representing the fossil fuel and automotive industries are world leaders when it comes to stalling government action on climate change, new research shows.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of the top 10 trade associations considered to be the most effective at opposing climate-friendly policies globally, seven are based in Washington <span class="caps">DC</span>, according to a report published this week by lobbying watchdog InfluenceMap.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many of the organisations, which include the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-petroleum-institute" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Petroleum Institute</a> and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, have had their wishes granted since President Trump’s election. As part of a broader deregulatory agenda, the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/donald-trump" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Trump</a> administration has scrapped regulations on methane emissions and automotive fuel efficiency standards.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climatechange-trump/trump-climate-deregulation-could-boost-co2-emissions-by-200-million-tonnes-a-year-study-idUKKCN1QM2KC" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Analysis</a> by the <span class="caps">NYU</span> School of Law’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center suggests these regulatory rollbacks will add an estimated 200 million tonnes of extra greenhouse gas emissions annually by 2025.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The report coincides with a <span class="caps">UN</span> Climate Action Summit taking place in New York this week, which aims to strengthen countries’ emissions reduction plans, with an overall goal of “net zero” by 2050.</font></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fighting climate action</font></strong></h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The lobby groups highlighted in the report have been working to undermine efforts to introduce climate policies since long before Trump’s election, however.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/national-association-manufacturers" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">National Association of Manufacturers</a>, which tops the list, coordinated the now-defunct <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/global-climate-coalition" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Global Climate Coalition</a>, which tried to <a href="https://desmog.co.uk/2019/04/25/global-climate-coalition-documents-secretive-fossil-fuel-lobby-un-programs" style="text-decoration-line: none;">influence</a> the <span class="caps">UN</span>’s <span class="caps">IPCC</span> process and spread doubt about climate science during the 1990s.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 2009, the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-petroleum-institute" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Petroleum Institute</a> and the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-fuel-petrochemical-manufacturers-afpm" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Fuel <span class="amp">&</span> Petrochemical Manufacturers</a> funded <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150811025505/http:/blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/08/11/lobby-groups-to-use-town-hall-tactics-to-oppose-climate-bill/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">rallies</a> against the proposed Clean Energy Act which would have established a “cap-and-trade” emissions scheme across the country.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/national-mining-association" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">National Mining Association</a> currently runs an astroturf campaign called ‘Count on Coal’, while the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-legislative-exchange-council" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (<span class="caps">ALEC</span>), a recipient of <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/koch-family-foundations" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Koch</a> and ExxonMobil funding, has developed numerous “model bills” for states to adopt over the years. They include opposition to renewable energy targets and support for the controversial Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> tar sands pipeline.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Three trade associations from other countries feature in the top 10: the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Minerals Council of Australia and the Japan Business Federation. BusinessEurope, a coalition of trade federations that has <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2018/09/19/businesseurope-cbi-eu-climate-paris-agreement/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">opposed</a> the <span class="caps">EU</span> increasing its action on climate change, sits at number 12.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>InfluenceMap argues that while the groups have so far managed to avoid significant public scrutiny, they are being “increasingly challenged by investors, the media and politicians that recognise the role they play in holding back effective action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.”</b></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Beau O’Sullivan, Communications Manager at the<b> shareholder activism charity ShareAction,</b> said the findings reinforce growing calls for companies to sever ties with organisations working to kill off strong climate policies:</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="margin-left: 0px;">“</span>This report rightly quantifies the insidious nature of the anti-climate lobby powerhouse. Investors are indeed alert to this and are taking action.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="margin-left: 0px;">“</span>Most recently, investors have filed an ambitious shareholder resolution at mining company <span class="caps">BHP</span> to ask it to cut ties with the worst offenders in obstructive lobbying, namely the Minerals Council of Australia, Business Council of Australia, and <span class="caps">US</span> chamber of commerce. Voting for this proposal will be a real test of investor action.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ed Collins, Project Lead on Climate Lobbying at InfluenceMap, told DeSmog the trade associations were also “facing increasing pressure from more progressive parts of their membership”.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> “We are at a crucial time for climate action. But against a backdrop of huge public concern around climate change and increasingly dire warnings from scientists, these trade groups continue to frustrate progress on climate policy, especially in the <span class="caps">US</span>, which should be leading the world in terms of climate ambition,” he said.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></p>