Political Influence

What do pollution-making-companies want from governments - besides money?

Real estate & gas industries don't want local building codes written to favor electric appliances.
Some public utility commissions require their electricity to be produced from burning coal.

Can we keep "forever chemicals" (PFAS) out of our water?
There’s tremendous "opposition from the chemical industry and ... some of the water utilities."
"It's going to cost them ... money, and they don't want to spend that money."

Despite deaths, Texas & Florida both "passed legislation to prevent ... heat protections for outdoor workers”!
The State of California refuses to undo "an obscure ... tax break" which benefits "big oil operators".

Fossil-fuel companies pay state taxes, and some states have become "dependent" on this revenue:

In North Dakota, "oil and gas taxes ... comprise about a third of the state’s ... budget.”
In Alaska; residents get an annual dividend from oil profits - "Free Money From Oil Wealth."

There's "no ... standard protecting [workers] ... from heat.” “OSHA ... has ignored ... recommendations".

"Koch ... joined ... with Enron, BP, Mobil ... to prohibit [govt] ... policing of oil & gas derivatives."
Ranchers use millions of acres of "public land for cattle grazing at practically no cost."

Exxon is trying to stop "regulations on plastic", "discreetly seeking to influence legislation.”

Toyota and GM "sided with ... Donald Trump against tighter [auto] emission standards.”

Monsanto sells bee-colony-destroying pesticides: “lobbyists ... successfully killed ... restrictions.”

Agri-businesses know how to work the political system:

The "factory farm model ... is allowed to evade a lot of regulations.”
"With little or no accountability ... [farm funding] programs ... invite" corruption.

Agri-business lobbyists have criticized "efforts by politicians" to reduce meat consumption.

“The [hog and dairy] industries ... slammed efforts to promote ‘Meatless Mondays’.”

Senate leader John Thune, and others, helped block limits on livestock emissions.

Meanwhile agribusiness "companies are some of the ... biggest contributors to climate change.”

Agricultural exceptionalism is "regulatory evasion." An informal, "different set of rules" is tolerated.

Problems of "pollution, animal cruelty, and labor exploitation" linger, i.e., "air pollution from factory farms".

"Farm workers are exempted from many federal/state labor" laws, despite recurrent deaths and injuries.

Agri-business is also "exempt from the Animal Welfare Act.” “Animals raised for meat, eggs, and dairy

(almost all of whom are raised in terrible conditions)" get virtually "no federal protections.”

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ranchers who don’t contribute a "check-off" payment.

- "More than $1billion in ‘check-off' fees" have been collected for "Beef Promotion”.

- “'Check-off' boards work with fast-food chains to ... bolster dairy or meat sales."

- "Allegations over the abuse of ‘check-off' program's include ... several embezzlement scandals."

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