By Tom Cahill/www.resistancereport.com
22 Republicans were behind the push to get President Trump to leave the Paris climate agreement. Those senators are also favorites of polluters.
A letter sent to the White House last week — signed by 22 of the most conservative Republicans in the U.S. Senate — rejected the overwhelming global scientific consensus behind climate change in favor of short-term economic growth. Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) led the coalition of Republicans who co-signed the letter, which calls on Trump to exit the climate accord, so he can successfully repeal the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. Exxon Mobil was one of the chief opponents of the Clean Power Plan, with then-CEO Rex Tillerson (who is now Trump’s Secretary of State) blasting the proposal in a 2015 speech.
“A key risk to fulfilling this objective is remaining in the Paris Agreement. Because of existing provisions within the Clean Air Act and others embedded in the Paris Agreement, remaining in it would subject the United States to significant litigation risk that could upend your administration’s ability to fulfill its goal of rescinding the Clean Power Plan,” the letter reads. “Accordingly, we strongly encourage you to make a clean break from the Paris Agreement.”
Of course, Inhofe, who has been a senator since 1994, has received $ 1.8 million from the oil and gas industry throughout his career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, making the industry his top donor by more than $1 million. Here’s how much all of the letter’s co-signers received from the industry throughout their senate careers, ranging from $184,250 for Senator David Perdue (R-Georgia) to more than $3 million for John Cornyn (R-Texas).
(It should be noted that Luther Strange, the junior senator from Alabama, has only been in his position since January of 2017, as he was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he was confirmed as Attorney General, and no donor data is immediately available for him as of this writing.)
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming): $728,766
Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri): $1,143,574
Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas): $281,352
Senator Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi): $462,890
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas): $3,031,956
Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho): $440,937
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas): $2,484,520
Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming): $513,733
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah): $772,179
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah): $281,620
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky): $1,975,245
Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky): $286,465
Senator David Perdue (R-Georgia): $184,250
Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho): $209,900
Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas): $817,150
Senator Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota): $204,900
Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina): $523,276
Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama): $532,846
Senator Luther Strange (R-Alabama): (NO DATA AVAILABLE)
Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina): $263,400
Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi): $686,876
(Tom Cahill is a senior editor for the Resistance Report based in the Pacific Northwest. He specializes in coverage of political, economic, and environmental news. You can contact him via email [email protected], or follow him on Facebook)
(The featured picture at the top shows President Donald Trump with Secretary of State and former CEO of Exxon Mobil Rex Tillerson)
