Dirty Air, Dirty Money: Grandfathered Pollution Pays Dividends Downwind in Austin
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VI. The Smog Lobby
Any accounting of what Texas' grandfathered polluters spend to influence politicians would be remiss to overlook the army of lobbyists that these companies hire to besiege the capitol. Texas Ethics Commission records list 585 lobby contracts in 1997 on behalf of 78 grandfathered companies.
Through these contracts, 78 grandfathered polluters paid an army of 359 different lobbyists between $9,746,000 and $20,556,004 10 to influence Texas officials on a range of issues, one of which was to preserve grandfathered polluting rights. With nearly two grandfather lobbyists for every Texas legislator, there is one grandfather lobbyist twisting each arm of every legislator.
The accompanying table lists 26 grandfathered polluter companies with 1997 lobby contracts that had maximum values of at least a quarter of a million dollars. As with PAC expenditures, utility companies again top the list. Houston Industries hired 44 lobbyists for up to $1.7 million, while 39 lobbyists reported Texas Utilities contracts worth up to $1.2 million. Four oil and gas giants came next (Amoco, Exxon, Texaco and Enron), each hiring at least 25 lobbyists in 1997.
| Grandfathered Polluter |
# Lobbyists |
Max. Value of Lobby Contracts |
Pollution (Tons) |
| Houston Industries |
44 |
$1,730,001* |
20,390 |
| Texas Utilities |
39 |
$1,181,000 |
210,847 |
| Amoco |
28 |
$635,000 |
21,646 |
| Exxon |
27 |
$1,310,000 |
50,933 |
| Texaco |
27 |
$310,000 |
6,710 |
| Enron |
25 |
$990,000 |
2,166 |
| Central & South West Corp. |
24 |
$765,000 |
10,697 |
| Entergy Corp. |
22 |
$280,000 |
8,264 |
| Du Pont |
16 |
$360,000 |
17,128 |
| Owens Corning |
14 |
$635,000 |
671 |
| Mobil |
13 |
$835,000 |
20,291 |
| Lower Colorado River Authority |
13 |
$355,000 |
3,835 |
| Dow Chemical Co. |
13 |
$250,000 |
8,895 |
| Chevron |
12 |
$825,000 |
40,345 |
| Union Pacific Resources |
12 |
$730,000 |
13,461 |
| Lyondell Petrochemical |
12 |
$330,000 |
8,587 |
| Union Carbide |
12 |
$325,000 |
13,176 |
| ARCO |
11 |
$750,000 |
2,379 |
| Texas Industries |
11 |
$380,000 |
735 |
| PG&E Corp. (Valero) |
11 |
$315,000 |
11,095 |
| ALCOA |
10 |
$335,000 |
109,636 |
| City of Austin |
7 |
$1,060,003* |
1,339 |
| Coastal Corp. |
6 |
$395,000 |
8,372 |
| Koch Industries |
5 |
$285,000 |
13,480 |
| City of San Antonio |
4 |
$350,000 |
2,734 |
| El Paso Energy Corp. |
4 |
$310,000 |
7,585 |
|
TOTAL |
422** |
$16,026,004 |
615,397 |
*Conservative estimate: contracts for "$200,000 or
more" were counted as $200,001.
**Many of these lobbyists work for more than one grandfather client.
Source: Texas Ethics Commission filings, Grandfathered Air Pollution.
10 Lobbyists do not register precise contract values; they report ranges, such as "$150,000 to $200,000."
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