“[W]hile the [Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative] negotiations take place, and in a remarkably cynical move, many of its oil company members are supporting a lawsuit that if successful would destroy U.S. legislation designed to strengthen the EITI standard.
The legal action, filed by the American Petroleum Institute, an oil trade association that includes the EITI board members Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, aims to scrap Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires U.S.-listed extractive companies to publish the payments they make to governments for each resource project they invest in around the world.
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“There is a sense that large federal contractors, like BP, are too big to suspend or debar. The government’s over-reliance on such companies can make it nearly impossible to hold them accountable, absent a monetary penalty and promises to keep clean. Temporarily cutting off millions or billions in taxpayer funds seems like a better way to get a company’s attention and truly alter corporate culture.”
U.S.'s Afghan Headache: $400-a-Gallon Gasoline →
That’s what happens when you have to airdrop fuel instead of driving it in.
BP back from political exile, giving big in 2012
“Between March and August, BP’s PAC made more than $50,000 in federal-level campaign contributions, ranking it among the cycle’s more generous donors.”
Read the rest of the story over at Politico
Image from duncandavidson
“We witnessed the industry pulling out all the stops—including going through our trash and trying to get our phone records—in order to scare us. We’re simply seeing them at it again to scare the The New York Times. We’re glad to see the Times standing by its reporter in the face of that pressure.”
ThinkProgress » As Gulf Coast Suffers, BP Profits Increase To $7.1 Billion →
BP PLC posted a 17 percent increase in net profit for the first quarter as higher oil prices helped to offset continued costs stemming from the Deepwater Horizon oil-spill disaster last year. The U.K.-based energy giant said Wednesday net profit for the quarter was $7.12 billion, compared with $6.08 billion a year earlier. Total revenue for the quarter rose 18.7% to $88.31 billion from $74.42 billion.
