Pittsburgh in ‘extreme embrace’ with fossil fuel lobbyists, research finds
Dozens of governmental, educational, cultural and environmental organizations across the city of Pittsburgh have hired lobbying firms who work with planet-heating fossil fuel companies, new research shows.
The Pennsylvania city has almost entirely divested its pension funds from fossil fuels and plans to dramatically cut its planet-heating pollution. -- Yet in 2023, it employed lobbyists who also worked for ExxonMobil and seven other fossil fuel companies.
‘Double agents’: fossil-fuel lobbyists work for US groups trying to fight climate crisis
Both the school district of Pittsburgh and the Port of Pittsburgh Commission this year hired a lobbying firm which also works for 16 fossil fuel firms, including one tied to the Koch brothers.
And Pittsburgh cultural institutions such as the research-focused Carnegie Institute, the Frick Art and Historical Center, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and the Pittsburgh Symphony have also employed fossil fuel lobbyists, as have the conservation group Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Pittsburgh Foundation, which funds climate advocacy.
All told, Pittsburgh has engaged in a more “extreme embrace” of fossil fuel lobbyists than any other large US city, according to the new research from "F Minus", a database of state-level lobbying disclosures released this year, and "LittleSis", a research database project created by the non-profit corporate and government accountability watchdog Public Accountability Initiative.
“For these lobbying firms, representing prestigious clients in the arts, education and philanthropy does wonders for their image,” said James Browning, executive director of F Minus.
“Instead of being the villains on climate, suddenly they’re heroes for children, for local conservation efforts, and for all kinds of good causes even though they’re also working for fossil fuel companies.”
Earlier this year F Minus published a database that showed that 1,500 lobbyists across the US work on behalf of fossil fuel companies while also representing hundreds of cities, universities, technology companies and environmental groups.
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/31/pittsburgh-fossil-fuel-lobby-climate-change?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other