FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2008
CONTACT: Josh Dorner, 202.675.2384
David Willett, 202.675.6698
John McCain's Million Dollar Big Oil Quid Pro Quo
Campaign Cash From Big Oil Flows In After Offshore Drilling Flip-Flop
Washington, D.C. -- A report in yesterday's Washington Posthighlighted the
surge in campaign cash from Big Oil to John McCain following his June
flip-flop on offshore drilling -- something even the Bush Administration
admits will do absolutely nothing to lower gas prices today, tomorrow, or
even two decades from now. McCain more than doubled his previous take from
Big Oil, raking in some $1.1 million in the month of June alone. The vast
majority of the money came in only after McCain announced his calculated
flip-flop on offshore drilling. The Republican National Committee has also
already received more than $4 million in campaign cash from Big Oil -- not
including the amount it raised from Big Oil in June, which has yet to be
determined.
"We suspected John McCain was going to get a lot more than just two
standing ovations from the Big Oil fat cats in Texas, but it looks like his
campaign hit quite a gusher indeed," said Cathy Duvall, Sierra Club
National Political Director. "Big Oil's billions in record profits prove
they're benefiting from our pain at the pump and now it seems John McCain
is happy to share in the wealth. It hardly seems like a coincidence that
John McCain and the Republican Party were proposing schemes to help the oil
companies and running millions in attacks ads full of blatant lies about
Obama's energy policy just as Big Oil opened the spigots on millions in
campaign cash."
Big Oil is set this week to announce yet another quarter of billions in
record-breaking profits. Last week Texas-based ConocoPhillips announced a
record-breaking $5.4 billion profit for the second quarter, with its
revenue increasing by more than 50 percent over the same period last year.
On June 15 John McCain said he wanted to allow Big Oil to begin the
"exploitation" of our coasts. The next day he went to Houston and formally
announced his flip-flop on offshore drilling before an audience of energy
industry executives -- a speech he then immediately followed up with
several fundraisers in Big Oil's backyard.
Big Oil Shows McCain the Money
1989-2006: McCain raises a total of $305,277 from the oil industry,
despite a presidential bid and stint as chairman of the high-profile
Senate Commerce Committee.
March 2008: McCain raises $116,000 from Big Oil
April 2008: McCain raises $283,000 from Big Oil
May 2008: McCain raises $208,000 from Big Oil
June 15, 2008: McCain says he supports allowing Big Oil to begin the
"exploitation" of our coasts
June 16, 2008: McCain formally announces his support for offshore
drilling in a speech to energy executives in Houston and then launches a
fundraising tour of the state
June 2008: McCain raises $1.1 million from Big Oil -- the vast majority
of which came in after his flip-flop on offshore drilling
July 6, 2008: Republican National Committee spends $3.4 million on false
and misleading ads in Midwestern battleground states attacking Obama on
energy policy. The San Francisco Chronicle said the ad "had enough
whoppers to make the Midwesterners cough up their Fourth of July potato
salad."
July 21, 2008: McCain unveils an ad blaming Obama for high gas prices.
The New York Times calls its "misleading on nearly every substantive
point."
John McCain's Pro-Big Oil Agenda
Supports Offshore Drilling
Proposed a $3.8 billion tax cut for the five largest American oil
companies alone
Proposed a misguided "gas tax holiday," that over 230 leading economists
-- including 4 Nobel Prize winners -- denounced because it would offer
no relief to consumers but would add to the oil industry's already
record-breaking profits
Opposes legislation that would rollback billions taxpayer-funded
giveaways to Big Oil and impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies
that fail to invest their excess profits in clean energy
Non-Profit, Non-Partisan Campaign Finance Reform Group Says McCain a "Case
Study" in Changing Positions In Order to Raise Cash
"‘The timing was significant,' said David Donnelly, the national campaigns
director of the Public Campaign Action Fund, a nonpartisan campaign finance
reform group that conducted the analysis of McCain's oil industry
contributions. ‘This is a case study of how a candidate can change a policy
position in the interest of raising money.'" -Washington Post, July 27,
2008.
Big Oil Adviser Says Industry Was "Very Appreciative" of McCain's Offshore
Drilling Flip-Flop
"And West said he thinks McCain gave energy executives what they needed to
get more solidly in his corner -- a pledge to reverse a federal policy that
has frustrated the industry for years.
‘I think people thought it was a sensible thing that was long due,' West
said. ‘I think the industry was very appreciative.'" -Washington Post,
July 27, 2008.
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