Brad Johnson makes a great catch:

The target of this ad is the Obama administration’s effort to remove $36 billion in loopholes and subsidies for the oil industry. As it turns out, the “Americans” presented in the ad are stock photos from Getty Images

The ad is below, and you can see the stock images Brad pulled from Getty at The Wonk Room.

Greenwire has the story:

Oil and gas companies spent at least $154 million on lobbying last year, potentially besting a field of rivals battling to shape climate and energy policies and setting a new record for the industry. Influence efforts by the oil and gas sector grew at least 16 percent in 2009 from the $132 million spent in 2008, according to an early analysis of new lobbying disclosures by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The total reflects spending for the first nine months of 2009 plus 80 percent of reports filed for the past three months.

The electric utility industry, meanwhile, spent at least $134.7 million on lobbying last year. Combined, the two traditional energy sectors paid out nearly 10 times the $29 million that alternative energy companies allocated for lobbying efforts. Environmental organizations spent at least $21.3 million last year on lobbying.

Here are some additional resources on this.

This is what the oil and gas industry’s lobbying expenditures over the past 12 years looks like:

Of particular interest is the fact that the industry’s spending has nearly doubled in recent years, after remaining steady in the $50-$80 million range for the previous ten years. Pharmaceutical and health product lobbying on the other hand, while increasing steadily, has not experienced anything resembling the spikes we have seen in the oil and gas industry.

The $154 million in lobbying was handled by 776 lobbyists working on behalf of over 100 clients. You can view the full list of clients, with lobbying expenditures here.

54% of the $154 million worth of lobbying was paid for by just five corporations: ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP and Marathon ($83 million).

ExxonMobil spent more on lobbying ($27,430,000) than all environmental organizations combined ($21,300,000), and nearly as much as the entire alternative energy industry ($29,000,000).

I’ve created a few charts that give some additional perspective on just how easily big oil outspends environmental organizations and alternative energy companies on lobbying.

This chart compares 2009 lobbying expenditures by five oil and gas companies to 2009 lobbying expenditures by environmental organizations and the entire alternative energy industry.

This chart compares 2009 lobbying expenditures by the oil and gas industry as a whole to 2009 lobbying expenditures by environmental organizations and the entire alternative energy industry.

CNN Money:

Exxon Mobil reported a 23% drop in quarterly profit Monday as economic conditions remain challenging, but the energy giant’s earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations.

The world’s largest publicly traded oil company said it earned $6.05 billion in the last three months of 2009, down 23% from $7.82 billion a year earlier. On a per share basis, Exxon said it earned $1.27, a decline of 18% from the fourth quarter of last year.

Here are the details:

news_release_earnings4q09 –

Via Climate Progress.

Earth Justice’s UnEarthed blog:

Some ominous news about the Arctic from the Obama administration almost escaped attention yesterday, amid Copenhagen climate conference hoopla and the EPA’s determination that greenhouse gases are a public health hazard.

Sec. of Interior Ken Salazar announced that Shell Oil Co. has been granted conditional approval by the Minerals Management Agency to drill three exploratory wells next year in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast. Approval comes even though the government has yet to resolve legal problems with a Bush-era five year leasing plan opening vast areas of the Arctic Ocean seabed to oil and gas activities.

Here is the press release, via DOI.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has approved, with conditions, Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc.’s Exploration Plan to drill three exploratory, information-gathering wells in the Chukchi Sea.

“A key component of reducing our country’s dependence on foreign oil is the environmentally-responsible exploration and development of America’s renewable and conventional resources,” said Salazar. “By approving this Exploration Plan, we are taking a cautious but deliberate step toward developing additional information on the Chukchi Sea.”

In 2008, Shell’s subsidiary paid $2.1 billion for leases during Chukchi Sea Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193. The 2008 sale was included in the previous Administration’s 2007-2012 Five-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program to cover leasing for oil and gas in the Outer Continental Shelf for that five-year period. The Exploration Plan now approved allows Shell to drill up to three exploration wells during the July-October open water drilling season.

Shell proposes activities using one drill ship, one ice management vessel, an ice class anchor handling vessel, and oil spill response vessels. The closest proposed drill site is more than 60 miles to shore and approximately 80 miles from Wainwright, Alaska.

“Our approval of Shell’s plan is conditioned on close monitoring of Shell’s activities to ensure that they are conducted in a safe and environmentally responsible manner,” added Salazar. “These wells will allow the Department to develop additional information and to evaluate the feasibility of future development in the Chukchi Sea.

The 2007-2012 OCS plan is currently undergoing review in response to a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit order which required additional environmental analysis. The Secretary’s decision on the remaining plan is forthcoming.

I’ve written several times now about Tuesday’s climate policy briefing hosted by Newsweek magazine and the American Petroleum Institute.

Here is the full transcript of the event:

23527903-Newsweek-Dialogue-Series-Climate-and-Energy-Policy-Moving-12-1-09 –

About a month ago, a strange email hit the inboxes of many congressional staffers. It was an invitation to an ‘Executive Forum’ on climate and energy policy hosted by the American Petroleum Institute. What was strange about this invitation was the sender of the email and the co-host of the policy forum: Newsweek magazine. The event is scheduled for today at 4pm.

Greenpeace’s Executive Director Phil Radford, understandably, took issue with this when the event was announced:

At present, the panel’s only member is American Petroleum Institute (API) President Jack Gerard.As you know, Mr. Gerard is the nation’s top registered lobbyist for Big Oil. API and its biggest member, ExxonMobil, have aggressively lobbied against global warming policy solutions that will inevitably limit global consumption of oil. API and its members have spent tens of millions of dollars over the past decade alone on propaganda efforts and front groups to undercut public confidence in the wide and deep global scientific consensus that global warming is real, that human consumption of fossil fuels is driving it, and that the problem is a serious threat to America and the rest of the world.

Greenpeace was not alone in its concerns:

“You’re selling access,” said Edward Wasserman, Knight professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. “Newsweek is using its reputation as a great news organization to convene these officeholders to talk about public policy. Then it’s renting out a space at the table for one of its customers who would not be at the table if not for giving money to Newsweek.”

Upping the ante before today’s big event, Greenpeace called for the event to be canceled and issued the following statement:

“Big Oil is buying access to our elected leaders by paying Newsweek to host this forum, and it must be called off,” Radford said. “Gerard and API will stop at nothing to stall progress on clean energy and climate solutions. I’m amazed Newsweek is endangering its reputation by renting its banner and top pundit to Big Oil. This forum is pay-to-play propaganda.”

In response to this, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman provided EnviroKnow with the following statement via email:

Rep. Ed Markey, the chief sponsor of the House cap-and-trade bill and a leading environmental advocate, is a full participant in the open, on-the-record discussion with no control by API over the questions or flow. Dem Sen Byron Dorgan is also participating and will reflect various views in Dem caucus. Rep Fred Upton, who opposed the House bill, will also participate. I see nothing wrong with an open, on-the-record balanced discussion like this. Newsweek has a long tradition of enviro reporting, including our annual green issue.

We’ll have more on this after tonight’s event.

Update: Talking Points Memo has now picked up this story.

Via Stephen Webster we learn of this ad that is being displayed at Valero gas stations in Austin, Texas:

And you wouldn’t know by looking at the ad itself, but ‘Voices for Energy’ campaign is paid for by Valero. The site itself is a simple ’send a letter to Congress’ tool, which includes this default language (emphasis mine):

These are challenging economic times for everyone and I am deeply concerned that federal climate change legislation titled the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act recently introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts will place undue hardships on my family, my community, the oil and gas industry, and the United States of America.

Simply stated, I believe the climate change legislation being considered will cost Americans billions of dollars in higher fuel and energy prices, kill jobs, reduce America’s competitiveness, and will not deliver the environmental benefits promised. We are counting on you and your colleagues in Washington to vote against the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act as it will raise energy prices for Americans, jeopardize jobs, and make America less competitive.

Excuse me for a moment while I drop a tear for the oil and gas industry. In addition to making up 7 of 9 largest companies in the world, the six most profitable companies are all in the oil business. Valero, the company behind this misleading astroturf operation, is the 33rd largest in the world.

Raw Story:

Shell Oil Company will pay California more than 19 million dollars because of environmental violations at service stations throughout the state, officials said.The agreement, filed Friday in a California state court, requires Shell to pay 17.8 million dollars in civil penalties as well as 1.7 million dollars in costs to state and local agencies.

The deal ends a three-year investigation into more than 1,000 Shell stations throughout the state focusing on operation and maintenance of underground storage tanks, as well as the handling of hazardous waste materials.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a news release that the investigation found hundreds of violations at the company’s gasoline stations in California.

“Shell Oil Company disregarded the state’s underground fuel storage and hazardous waste laws, committing hundreds of environmental violations at its gasoline stations across California,” Brown said.

Here is the order:

The original complaint and the judgment can be found here.

Talking Points Memo:

A major climate change bill passed out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee amid a Republican boycott this morning, setting the stage for other panels to amend the legislation. The final vote was 11-1. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)–whose Senate Finance Committee probably have its own crack at the bill–was the lone hold out. No Republicans showed up to vote.

Here is the statement from Clean Energy Works:

“We’re pleased that Senator Boxer stood up to the Big Oil-backed boycott. Big Oil has already doled out more than $3 million to the minority members of the committee and, given Big Oil’s billions in profits last quarter, we look forward to seeing whether they get a ‘performance bonus’ after this morning’s no-show. We’re spending a $1 billion a day on foreign and it’s time to stand up to Big Oil to pass a bill that means more jobs, less pollution, and greater security.

“As Senator Graham’s efforts show, there is bipartisan agreement to move forward, despite the attempts of a backward looking minority to stymie action in a key committee. Today’s vote and yesterday’s announcement of a dual track by Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman demonstrates that the Senate is gaining momentum in its push to enact comphrensive clean energy and climate legislation that will put America back in control of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet.”