From Watts Up With That?
Reposted with permission from Energy In Depth – a research, education and public outreach campaign of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA).
Mandi Risko
The Senate Budget Committee took the House Democrats’ political-theatre-esque investigation into energy companies and turned it into a complete political dud. At a hearing Wednesday intended to build off of the House Oversight Committee’s (HCOR) failed investigation into energy companies back in 2022, Democratic politicians and activist witnesses failed to produce anything of substance to support their decades-long campaign aimed at taking down the American energy industry.
The hearing comes just a day after the Senate Budget Committee and the House Oversight Democrats issued a joint report and a trove of documents alleging that oil majors deceived the public about climate change. And, even though Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) stated the documents “exposed” the industry, there was little mention of their contents – because they, like the numerous other documents analyzed by the HOC, are a complete nothingburger.
Putting a finer point on it, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told E&E News that “the hearing might be the end of the line for the investigation for now.”
Whitehouse’s Fishing Expedition Bound to Upset Other Democrats
While some politicians have hijacked the Senate Budget Committee far beyond its purview to focus almost exclusively on climate change, other Democrats are surely rolling their eyes at today’s political performance. In the wake of the Biden administration’s LNG pause, numerous Democrats have called out the importance of natural gas and rebuked their own party for turning against a needed economic and energy security powerhouse. Most recently, Jennifer Granholm thanked the industry for its extraordinary work supplying much-needed clean energy to the American people:
“You have helped us meet the moment when our energy and national security have needed it most [and] we will be counting on you again.”
Much like the House investigation, Sen. Whitehouse’s hearing – while also totally snooze worthy – was out of step and out of sync with the American people. Instead, it was used primarily for “political theatre,” a point Ranking Member Senator Chuck Grassley took issue with, arguing that committee has broken historic precedent in the production of its report and release of documents:
“The Majority could have been transparent with the Minority many months ago, as is normal course of business. The Majority chose not to do so. This unfortunate series of non-transparent events have undone years of investigative precedent.” (emphasis added)
Notably, this isn’t Sen. Whitehouse’s first swing at reviving the House’s flawed investigation into energy companies. Last June, he held a hearing featuring anti-industry activists Naomi Oreskes and Christine Arena who again failed to provide any momentum for this flailing campaign. This time, Sen. Whitehouse invited Oreskes’ former colleague Geoffrey Supran, former Department of Justice (DOJ) Attorney and La Jolla attendee Sharon Eubanks, along with Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
Supran, the “Academic,” Didn’t Even Do His Homework
Geoffrey Supran, a self-described “disinformation scientist” funded by the Rockefellers who was intimately involved in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, didn’t even do his homework. When asked by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) about the internal industry documents that were intended to be the topic of discussion at the hearing, he admitted:
“I have yet to review the documents themselves, they were only just released. I have reviewed the reports that accompany them, so forgive me for having only a superficial understanding of them.” (emphasis added)
Comically, it was Supran and Oreskes who bragged about their document reading abilities back in 2017 when they embarked on their Climate Change Communications study aimed at American energy companies.
In fact, experts such as Roger Pielke Jr., have pointed out that Supran has a record of identifying a conclusion with no data only to then morph his evidence in a fashion that makes oil and gas companies look bad – all in the name of taking down energy companies.
Underlying this bias, a noteworthy exchange occurred when Supran became noticeably uncomfortable when Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) exposed him for endorsing fringe views on X. Sen. Kennedy pointed out that Supran couldn’t possibly be an unbiased witness when he endorses the dishonest and disruptive tactics used by activist group Climate Defiance:
The Link Between “Big Tobacco” and “Big Oil” Was Completely Debunked
Throughout the hearing, Democrats had little success in their attempts to create a link between the Big Tobacco lawsuits in the 1990s and the cases against energy companies. Even Sharon Eubanks, former director for the tobacco litigation Team at DOJ, didn’t provide this much sought after link. Instead, Eubanks opined about the good ol’ days and closed out the hearing by stating:
“There was more than one statute [supporting the DOJ’s lawsuit against Big Tobacco], that we went forward with. RICO was one, then we had the Medicare Reimbursement Act and the Medicare Secondary Pay and Provisions of the Social Security Act of 1930-something.”
While an interesting history lesson, Eubanks’ testimony didn’t advance the fringe narrative that energy lawsuits and Big Tobacco lawsuits are somehow analogous.
Ariel Cohen, a witness invited by the Senate Republicans, gave the clearest answer:
“The fundamental difference between tobacco and the fossil fuel industry is the fossil fuel industry brings a tangible economic good to the economy. Without it, we cannot have our transportation, or deliveries, our military…so I hope nobody in their right mind is advocating immediate cessation of fossil fuels.” (emphasis added)
Even James Hansen, a former Exxon employee and NASA scientist that supports a fossil fuel phase out has acknowledged that tobacco and hydrocarbons are entirely different products with drastically different values to society:
“Let’s be clear: the frequent comparison of the fossil fuel and tobacco industries is nonsense. Fossil fuels are a valuable energy source that has done yeomen service for humankind.”
Bottom line: Anti-industry advocates have tried for more than a decade to take down the American energy industry with no success and the Senate Budget Committee hearing was no different. After yet another allegedly “groundbreaking” document release, nothing new came to light. While politicians entertain these destructive games, American energy companies remain hard at work to ensure families and business have a reliable source of energy to power their homes and companies.