Amazon Has 115 Full-Time Lobbyists In DC. One Of Them Works On Climate. One.
Amazon has spent over $57.9 million since 2017 on influencing federal officials — the second-most of any company in the Trump era — and currently pays 115 lobbyists, according to an E&E News analysis of lobbying data. During that time, just one Amazon lobbyist — a former Senate Republican staffer — has lobbied on the environment. "They're not walking the talk," Robert Brulle, a professor of environment and society at Brown University, said of Amazon. "What they're doing, a lot of people would call it green washing."
Amazon is not the only tech giant that claims to be concerned about climate change in public but has been largely silent on the issue in meetings with federal officials. Facebook Inc., one of the top 10 corporate lobbying spenders since Trump took office, only began talking to members of Congress about climate change in the last few months, lobbying disclosures show. The other big technology companies — Microsoft Corp.; Apple Inc.; and Google, whose parent company is the top lobbying spender since 2017 — have made climate-related issues a regular feature of their federal advocacy efforts, E&E News has found.
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The sole lobbyist for Amazon's sustainability effort is T.A. Hawks, who previously served as chief of staff to former Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). Now a partner at Monument Advocacy, Hawks' other clients include oil giant Total SE and aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. Amazon declined to respond to questions about the sustainability issues it is lobbying on and why it chose Hawks to advocate for them. But an Amazon spokesperson said the company "has actively advocated for policies that promote clean energy and address climate change." They include efforts to support the Paris Agreement, European climate efforts, a U.S. bill to promote renewable energy and state plans to expand renewable energy. Yet the company has come under fire from its own shareholders for actions that could undercut its limited climate advocacy. A resolution considered at Amazon's annual meeting this year called on the company to be more transparent about its lobbying efforts — both individually and as a member of powerful trade associations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has opposed the Paris accord and other efforts to address climate change.
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Amazon's campaign contributions — another measure of corporate priorities — have also raised questions about its climate commitments. At the Senate level, the company has overwhelmingly supported Republicans, who have collectively opposed legislation to curb carbon emissions. For example, Bezos announced the Climate Pledge in September 2019, the same month that Amazon's political action committee gave a combined $20,500 to political organizations supporting six Republicans whose races were widely expected to determine control of the Senate. All but Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), who is facing a runoff election early next year, were reelected (Climatewire, Oct. 14).
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https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/11/16/stories/1063718517?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aclimatewire
