Message From the Editor

Fossil fuel money in politics is nothing new — but recent revelations about its influence on a political race in Louisiana has the state Democratic Party in a state of crisis. After endorsing climate candidate Davante Lewis for the state’s utility regulatory commission, the Louisiana Democratic Party accepted at least $90,000 from gas utilities and executives, and then spent thousands to support Lewis’s pro-industry challenger, who ultimately lost.
The Party leadership, with its own ties to oil and gas, is accused of “funneling” those utility donations to Lewis’s opponent, and is facing pressure to resign over the mayhem, which some members say has eroded trust in the party.
Investigative journalist Sara Sneath, who will be regularly reporting for DeSmog from the Gulf Coast, dug into the campaign finance reports and has the full story here.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmog.com. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. DeSmog has been following the money and influence campaigns of the fossil fuel industry since 2006. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Image credit: Julie Dermansky

Louisiana Democratic Party ‘Funneled’ Utility Donations to Climate Candidate Challenger

— By Sara Sneath (5 min. read) —

Louisiana Democratic Party leaders are accused of funneling thousands of dollars from utility companies to the campaign of a fossil fuel–friendly candidate who ran for reelection on the state’s utility regulatory committee.

Campaign finance records filed this week show that the Party received more than $90,000 in donations from utility companies, energy producers, and their executives during the elections for two Louisiana Public Service Commissioners. The same utility companies — Entergy, Cleco, and CenterPoint Energy — also donated directly to incumbent Lambert Boissiere III, whose campaign was largely sponsored by industry groups. Entergy and Cleco did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Labour Accepted £12,000 From Major Polluter Drax

— By Phoebe Cooke (4 min. read) —

A large donation to the Labour Party from wood-burning giant Drax has raised concerns among campaigners over the sway of big carbon emitters over Parliament.

The payment from the former coal-fired power station was registered on September 12 last year, and published in December in the Electoral Commission register of political donations.

Labour has declined to comment on receipt of the donation.

Drax ‘Lobbying Efforts’ Revealed in Internal Treasury Memos

— By Phoebe Cooke (6 min. read) —

The power station operator Drax is applying intense pressure across government departments to influence energy policy in its favour, DeSmog can reveal.

In particular, the biomass giant is pressing the government to deliver key decisions that could hasten the adoption of a costly and controversial ‘carbon negative’ technology.

Why Gas Stoves Matter to the Climate – and the Gas Industry

— By Daniel Cohan, Rice University (5 min. read) —

Gas stoves are a leading source of hazardous indoor air pollution, but they emit only a tiny share of the greenhouse gases that warm the climate. Why, then, have they assumed such a heated role in climate politics?

This debate reignited on Jan. 9, 2023, when Richard Trumka Jr., a member of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, told Bloomberg News that the agency planned to consider regulating gas stoves due to concerns about their health effects. “Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” he noted.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Richard Lindzen

Richard Lindzen is former Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a position he held from 1983 until his retirement in 2013. He is a former distinguished senior fellow at the Cato Institute‘s Center for the Study of Science. The Cato Institute, a conservative think tank where Lindzen has also published numerous articles and studies, has received at least $125,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998. Lindzen has received thousands of dollars in funding from oil and coal companies for his consulting services, and has described ExxonMobil as “the only principled oil and gas company I know in the U.S.” In 2016, Lindzen described the 97% consensus among climate scientists as “propaganda.”
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.