Data Shows Industry Had Extensive Access to Cheney's Energy Task Force
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t r u t h o u t | Statement
The Natural Resources Defense Council
Data Shows Industry Had Extensive Access to Cheney's Energy Task
Force
Industry Outnumbered Non-Industry Contacts 25 to 1
Tuesday, 20 May, 2002
WASHINGTON | A close examination of more than 12,000 pages of
documents provided by the Energy Department confirms that energy industry
lobbyists enjoyed extraordinary access to Vice President Cheney's energy task
force. NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) has finally compiled from
Energy Department documents a comprehensive, quantitative analysis of
outside contacts during formulation of the Bush administration's national energy
plan. (See attached Excel spreadsheet.)
During the course of its operation - from January to September of 2001 - the
energy task force received input from hundreds of corporations, organizations
and individuals. The data, which validates NRDC's preliminary assessment that
industry had the most access, shows that industry representatives had 714
direct contacts while non-industry representatives had only 29. NRDC could not
definitively categorize another 105 direct contacts.
"A year ago the Cheney task force issued recommendations that read like a
wish list for energy companies," said NRDC senior attorney Sharon Buccino.
"When it came to developing the administration's environmentally and fiscally
reckless energy policy, it was all industry all the time."
The representatives tallying the most direct contacts with the energy task
force were from some of the nation's largest and most influential energy
companies and trade associations. Not surprisingly, these industries stood to
benefit from the president's policies to boost domestic energy production.
Some of them also are major donors to President Bush and Republican
congressional candidates. For example:
Nuclear Energy Institute had contact with the task force 19 times. (NEI has
contributed $437,404 to Republican candidates and the GOP from 1999 to
2002.)
Bonneville Power Administration had contact with the task force 15 times.
Edison Electric Institute had contact with the task force 14 times. (EEI has
contributed $598,169 to Republican candidates and the GOP from 1999 to
2002.)
United States Enrichment Corporation had contact with the task force 12
times.
North American Electric Reliability Council had contact with the task force
11 times.
National Mining Association had contact with the task force nine times.
(NMA has contributed $575,496 to Republican candidates and the GOP from
1999 to 2002.)
Westinghouse had contact with the task force nine times. (Westinghouse
Electric Company has contributed $65,060 to Republican candidates and the
GOP from 1999 to 2002.)
American Gas Association had contact with the task force eight times.
(AGA has contributed $480,478 to Republican candidates and the GOP from
1999 to 2002.)
Electric Power Research Institute had contact with the task force eight
times.
CMS Energy had contact with the task force eight times. (CMS has
contributed $357,715 to Republican candidates and the GOP from 1999 to
2002.)
Southern Company had contact with the task force seven times. (Southern
has contributed $1,626,507 to Republican candidates and the GOP from 1999
to 2002.)
American Petroleum Institute had contact with the task force six times.
(API has contributed $44,301 to Republican candidates and the GOP from 1999
to 2002.)
Exelon Corporation had contact with the task force six times. (Exelon has
contributed $910,886 to Republican candidates and the GOP from 1999 to
2002.)
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners had contact with
the task force six times.
Enron Corporation had contact with the task force four times, in addition to
the six times that Vice President Cheney reportedly met with company
officials. (Enron has contributed $2,480,056 to Republican candidates and the
GOP from 1999 to 2002.)
Note that these contacts were ones in which Energy Department staff
participated. Other direct contacts with the energy task force, for example
through the vice president's office, are not included in these tallies because the
Bush administration has refused to release that information.
To review political campaign contributions from the energy sector, consult
the Center for Responsive Politics' Web site:
www.opensecrets.org/new/energy_task_force/index.asp.
Methodology
For the purpose of NRDC's analysis, meetings, phone calls, letters, memos
or e-mail communication with the task force are classified as direct contacts.
Excluded from NRDC's analysis are indirect contacts, such as reports, press
releases, hearing statements and information obtained from Web sites.
The category of "industry" is broadly defined to include companies, trade
associations, and law and consulting firms representing energy interests.
NRDC did not distinguish the type of industry, so, for example, the handful of
alternative energy industries are lumped into that general category. Likewise,
the "non-industry" category includes think tanks heavily financed by energy
interests. The "unknown" category represents entities that NRDC was unable to
identify or categorize.
The attached database includes entries that are not part of NRDC's
analysis. For example, direct contacts by representatives from government and
academia are omitted from the count, as are several hundred contacts by
individuals who did not list their affiliation.
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The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization
of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting
public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than
500,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington,
Los Angeles and San Francisco. More information is available at NRDC's Web
site: www.nrdc.org.
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