BP, who was responsible for the US’s worst environmental disaster to date, has been funneling thousands of dollars to politicians in the US known for denying the science of climate change according to the Guardian. A report by Climate Action Network Europe has found that a number of big European companies have been funding candidates such as James Inhofe from Oklahoma, who has called climate change a ‘hoax’ and compared environmentalists to the Third Reich.
Employing data from OpenSecrets.org the report found that 80 percent of funding from European companies, including BP, BASF, Bayer, and Solvay, went to candidates “who have been outspoken in their opposition to comprehensive climate policy in the US and candidates who actively deny the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and is caused by people.”
In total the companies have funneled nearly a quarter million US dollars to climate change-denying candidates. At home these same companies have been arguing against stronger climate targets in Europe by saying that such actions should not occur until the US passes a climate bill.
For its part, BP has spent $18,000 on anti-climate change candidates.
Scientists overwhelmingly agree that the world is warming due to massive greenhouse gas emissions from human impacts, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation. Among climate change impacts are rising sea levels, worsening and more frequent severe weather, melting glaciers, long-term droughts, and massive species extinction.
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