Tikkun Magazine, January/February 2008
The Presidential Primaries
Dear Candidates
by Antonia Juhasz
I write to you today to ask that you demonstrate to the American people that you will take a firm stand in defense of our future.
Our nation and world are drowning in two simultaneous and deeply interrelated crises: a war for oil (with another on the horizon), and a climate catastrophe pushed ever forward by the burning of fossil fuel.
The American public spoke with a firm and united voice on both the Iraq war and global warming in the 2006 elections. We sent Congress a clear message and elected it to accomplish two goals: end the war and take firm and immediate action to curtail climate chaos. Neither message has been heard. Our voices appear to be drowned out by those moneyed few who profit from the continuation of war and global warming—Big Oil.
The oil and gas industry ranks among the top ten highest all time spenders on federal election campaigns, donating over $209 million just since 1990 (all of the figures I use in this letter come from the Center for Responsive Politics). Three of the biggest spenders are Chevron, ExxonMobil, and BP. Chevron spent almost $9.5 million trying to get its chosen presidential and congressional candidates elected to office from just 1990 to 2006. ExxonMobil spent $9.3 million and BP spent $5.7 million.
There is simply and utterly no comparison to the financial reach of the oil industry among organizations and groups working on behalf of peace, the environment, consumers, public health, communities living near oil production or gasoline refining, in support of clean and sustainable energy alternatives, or the protection of human rights.
The evidence is clear: candidates who take Big Oil's money do Big Oil's bidding.
Oil Change International compiled voting records for the five most important bills on the Iraq war: the 2003 vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq and the subsequent supplemental war funding bills in 2003,2004,2005, and 2006. Members of Congress who voted for all five bills received on average eight times more money from the oil and gas industry than those candidates who voted against the war, approximately $116,000 per candidate from 1989 to 2006, compared to $14,000.
The Center for American Progress investigated the connection between votes and money for H.R 2776, the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007. The bill would eliminate $16 billion in oil and gas industry tax breaks to fund clean energy alternatives. Members of Congress who voted against the bill received on average four times more money in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry than those who voted for the bill, approximately $110,000 to $26,000 on average from 1989 and 2006.
We need assurance from every candidate running for president We need to know that you will not be beholden to Big Oil.
To date, every one of you has received money from the oil industry at some point in your political career. To date, every one of you has received money from the oil and gas industry in your 2008 presidential bid. The top contributors are Koch Industries (the largest private oil company in the United States), ExxonMobil, Valero, Chevron, Occidental, the American Gas Association, Marathon, Sunoco, and BP.
Rudolph Giuliani has received the most, more than half a million dollars. Mitt Romney is second with just over $300,000, and Hillary Clinton is third in line with more than $220,500. Barack Obama is seventh with over $100,000, Ron Paul is tenth with just under $35,000, and John Edwards follows closely behind him with just under $30,000.
In the 1990s, people opposed to the influence of Big Tobacco on our elected officials launched a campaign that succeeded in leading many politicians to reject campaign contributions from the tobacco industry. The result was a clear and tangible diminution in the power of Big Tobacco over our government and an explosion of anti-tobacco policies and activism.
Oil Change International has launched a campaign based on this success calling for the "Separation of Oil and State." People across the country are joining together to announce their support for candidates who pledge to renounce oil company campaign contributions, to support peace, and to support clean, sustainable, renewable energy.
I ask you to take this pledge. I ask you to renounce oil industry money. I ask you to turn your back on war and global warming and to embrace a peaceful future. Only then will we embrace you.
Antonia Juhasz is a fellow at Oil Change International (http://www.PriceofOil.org), and author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time (HarperCollins) and the forthcoming The Break-Up: The Case for Taking Apart Big Oil (HarperCollins). (http://www.TheBushAgenda.net).
Source Citation
Juhasz, Antonia. 2008. Dear candidates. Tikkun 23(1):46.
