Inside BP’s nascent lobbying efforts on state climate policies

For years, oil companies have been expressing their support for climate policies with little action to follow, until now. In a recent interview, Bernard Looney, the CEO of BP, said that the company is undertaking lobbying efforts to promote transportation emission reduction in several states in the US. As part of the plan, a $100 million corporate reputation campaign will be suspended to redirect the funds to climate initiatives.

However, according to Geoff Morrell, a BP spokesman, the amount pledged for pro-climate advocacy this year and the next is only $6.5m, far below the $100m spent on the corporate reputation campaign and only half of the $13 million spent two years ago on opposing an initiative to price carbon emissions.

Climate advocates will be watching how BP is going to fulfil its mission. In the meantime, policymakers need to expedite putting forth practical propositions to companies. As Morell explicitly stated:

“We are spending millions and would gladly spend tens of millions more if there were viable net-zero policies to actively advocate for….. Our spend reflects the state of play in this space.”

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