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hatrack

(59,442 posts)
Thu Aug 25, 2016, 07:55 AM Aug 2016

At Least 18 Major Firms Leave Top 2 US Coal, "Clean Coal" Lobbying Groups

At least 18 major companies—and perhaps nearly twice that many—have ended their memberships in two of the nation's top coal lobbying groups, the National Mining Association and the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity since 2009, according to research by the Climate Investigations Center (CIC), an environmental advocacy group.

Volvo Construction Equipment North America publicly announced its departure from the NMA during the Paris climate talks last December, citing opposition to the group's anti-climate action lobbying. "We do not share the NMA's view on climate change nor their opinion about the politics on climate change driven by American policy," it told the environmental group Greenpeace. SFK, a Swedish manufacturer, made a similar public pronouncement.

But most of the companies—a list that includes utilities and banks as well as oil, coal and insurance companies—have exited quietly. To track those departures, the Climate Investigations Center monitored the groups' membership lists, contacting more than 20 of the major companies whose names had been removed to confirm their departures and reasons for leaving. Only some of those companies responded. Survey responses were published.

Some companies said they left because of the groups' positions on climate change policy, but others said it was part of a routine assessment of memberships and costs or budget constraints. Some utilities cited their transition away from coal as the reason for cutting ties. Others gave no reason for leaving.

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23082016/coal-lobbying-groups-losing-members-industry-tumbles

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