Big Oil Company Donates $250,000 to Yes on Prop. 1 campaign Top donations to Browns’ water bond reach over $8 million by Dan Bacher The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) revealed today that Aera Energy LLC, a company jointly owned by affiliates of Shell and ExxonMobil, has contributed $250,000 to the Yes on Proposition 1 and 2 campaign. As of today, the total of money donated by top contributors for Governor Brown Prop. 1 and 2 campaign has risen to $8,026,015. (fppc.ca.gov/top10Nov2014/) Aera Energy LLC is one of Californias largest oil and gas producers, accounting for nearly 25 percent of the states production, according to the company’s website. (aeraenergy/who-we-are.asp) “Formed in June 1997 and jointly owned by affiliates of Shell and ExxonMobil, we are operated as a stand-alone company through our own board of managers,” the website stated. “We are industry leaders that specialize in tapping heavy oil and other unconventional light reservoirs. With headquarters in Bakersfield, most of our production is centered in the San Joaquin Valley. We also have oil field operations in Ventura and Monterey counties. Aera produces about 131,000 barrels of oil and 36 million cubic feet of natural gas each day and has proved oil and gas reserves equivalent to approximately 712 million barrels of oil,” the website said. Opponents of Proposition 1 say Governor Jerry Brown’s $7.5 billion water bond is an expensive and unfair taxpayer giveaway to special interests that won’t solve the drought or help secure our water future – and see the latest contribution as one of many by powerful corporate interests to spur the voters to approve the controversial measure. “It allocates over $3.6 billion, without oversight by the legislature, to build dams and pay for water transfers for corporate agribusiness. Prop 1 with interest will cost CA taxpayers $14.4 billion or $360 million per year for 40 years out of our State’s general fund, money that could be used for other needs like education and healthcare,” according to the Con argument in the California Progressive Voter Guide: act.couragecampaign.org/sign/2014ProgressiveVoterGuide_CREDO/ The contribution of $250,000 from Aera Energy LLC to Governor Jerry Brown’s campaign to pass the water bond is no surprise, since Brown is a strong supporter of Big Oil and the expansion of the environmentally destructive practice of fracking in California. Leaders of environmental organizations, Indian Tribes and fishing groups strongly criiticzed Brown for signing Senator Fran Pavley’s Senate Bill 4, the green light for fracking bill that clears the path for expanded fracking in California, in September 2013. The bill made California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of fracking permits optional and prevented the imposition of a moratorium on fracking for 15 months. Big Oil strongly supported the amended version of Senate Bill 4 that Brown signed. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association and former chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast, praised the governor’s signing of Senate Bill 4 for creating “an environmental platform on which California can look toward the opportunity to responsibly develop the enormous potential energy resource contained in the Monterey Shale formation.” (https://wspa.org/blog/post/statement-wspa-president-catherine-reheis-boyd-signing-sb-4) Brown signed that bill after receiving at least $2,014,570.22 from fossil fuel interests since his race for Attorney General in 2006, according to Oil Change International. In the 2014 election cycle, four oil companies had contributed a total of $161,000 to the Brown campaign as of March 1, 2014. Occidental Petroleum has given $27,200, the maximum legally allowed. Edison and Chevron have both contributed $27,200 twice, once for the primary election and another for the general election. Phillips 66 has nearly maxed out with a $25,000 contribution. (bigoilbrown.org/frackwater/) Fossil fuel industry contributions in 2010 Governor’s race were $198,451.22. Proposition 30, one of the Governor’s signature policy initiatives in 2012, was also heavily funded by Big Oil. The oil and gas companies contributed over $1,118,418 to the campaign, including $500,000 from Occidental Petroleum and $125,000 from Aera Energy. In addition, fossil fuel industry interests have donated $355,000 to Brown’s two Oakland charter schools since 2006. In 2013 alone, Occidental Petroleum gave The Oakland Military Institute $150,000 at Brown’s behest. Below is the list of the top contributors to Propositions 1 (and 2) from the FPPC: Proposition 001 - AB1471 Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014. A contributor whose name is marked with an asterisk made a contribution to a committee that simultaneously supported or opposed more than one statewide ballot measure on the November 4, 2014 ballot. Because of this it is not possible to determine the amount of the contribution that was spent specifically on the campaign for any particular measure. In these cases the contributions are listed for every ballot measure the committee has been formed to support or oppose. This results in the same contribution appearing multiple times – once for each ballot measure the committee supports or opposes. Supporting 1 Brown for Governor 2014* - $1,879,765 2 Sean Parker* - $1,000,000 3 California Alliance for Jobs - Rebuild California Committee* - $521,250 4 California Hospitals Committee on Issues, Sponsored by California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems* - $500,000 5 Doris Fisher* - $499,000 6 L. John Doerr* - $475,000 7 Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition - Issues PAC* - $400,000 8 Robert Fisher* - $400,000 9 John Fisher* - $351,000 10 Western Growers Service Corporation* - $250,000 11 Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Issues PAC* - $250,000 12 Reed Hastings* - $250,000 13 California American Council of Engineering Companies Issues Fund* - $250,000 14 Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters Issues Committee (including contributions from Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters Legislative Improvement Committee)* - $250,000 15 California Farm Bureau Federation* - $250,000 16 William Fisher* - $250,000 17 Aera Energy LLC* NEW $250,000 Total from top contributors $8,026,015 Opposing No committee opposing this ballot measure raised enough money to reach the reporting threshold
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 00:24:22 +0000
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