Leaked documents reveal lawmakers' secret industry-driven move: 'Being shaped behind the scenes'

Big Oil is trying to make sure a proposed law prioritizes its profits instead of solutions to mitigate the effects of the changing climate.

What's happening?

"An Ohio bill that would establish rules for underground carbon dioxide storage is being shaped behind the scenes by oil and gas companies that stand to benefit from the legislation," Canary Media reported.

House Bill 170 outlines carbon capture and sequestration rules. It's one of almost two dozen similar state proposals to regulate the sector.

Oil and gas industry watchdog Fieldnotes says lobbyists, namely from the American Petroleum Institute and Ohio Oil and Gas Association, have had an outsize impact on this measure.

"There is a lot of money to be made," Jennifer Stewart, API director of climate and environmental, social, and governance policy, said in an April 2024 hearing, per Canary Media.

Why is this important?

Oil and gas companies have known for nearly three-quarters of a century that their business would have dire consequences for humanity and the planet. In 1954, they funded research that showed rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The industry spent the intervening years covering up its knowledge as well as seeding, advancing, and continuing a disinformation campaign about Earth's warming. API was a major player.

The propaganda likely is a big reason — or the reason — people deny that the burning of dirty energy sources causes rising global temperatures. This has stalled progress in the shift to clean energy sources and contributed to mass displacement and other effects of increasingly frequent and severe weather events, which are one of the results of higher temperatures.

Policy changes around the world are necessary to avoid the most catastrophic outcomes of the changing climate, but industries must play their part, too. Fieldnotes researcher Julia Kane told Canary Media that lawmakers should prioritize the public's interest over oil and gas companies' profits, but that Big Oil had "set the foundation for the entire conversation" and all but completed the bill-to-law process.

What's being done about HB 170?

"This is the system that we're in," said Stephanie Howse-Jones, a Cleveland City Council member and former state representative, noting lobbyists' bill drafts and talking points often inform legislators, who may not read the statutes in their entirety.

Though it's essential for people to stay informed about critical climate issues, Ohio's updated public record law prevents citizens from accessing elected officials' notes and "some internal communications," per Canary Media.

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Voting for candidates who will take eco-conscious action and talking with friends, family, bosses, and coworkers are other ways to move the needle.

"Ohioans must demand more of their state legislature," Howse-Jones said. "[Until campaign finance reform takes place,] ​most of us won't be able to compete with the dollars. But we do have organizing-people power."

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