A review by Reuters has uncovered sweeping hypocrisy on the part of scores of American corporations that have publicly expressed some of the most fervent support for President Barack Obama’s climate activism.
Reuters researchers examined political donations by “30 of the biggest publicly-traded U.S. companies” that also signed on to the American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge, promoted last year by the U.S. President. In that declaration, they committed “to enact climate-friendly corporate policies and support strong climate change oversight like the global climate accord signed in Paris,” the news agency reports.
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However, 25 of the 30 companies were also providing support through political action committees to lawmakers identified as climate deniers by a pro-Obama non-profit, Organizing For Action, Reuters reveals. “The list includes more than 130 members of Congress, nearly all Republicans, and is a who’s who of the biggest opponents of Obama’s plan to combat climate change,” add reporters Richard Valdmanis and Grant Smith.
Among corporations talking and donating from different sides of their mouth were PepsiCo and DuPont, both of which directed at least half of their total donations to senators and congressmen listed as deniers. Other pledge-signers “that gave more than a third of their top political contributions to lawmakers on the list include Google, AT&T, GE, [and] Verizon.”
Apple and Coca Cola were among the five corporations that did not make donations to the Congressional climate denial lobby.
