#american companies

[mostlysignssomeportents]

SoCal Gas spent millions on astroturf ops to fight climate rules

Today (19 Aug), I'm appearing at the San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. I'm on a 2:30PM panel called "Return From Retirement," followed by a signing:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/festivalofbooks

It's a breathtaking fraud: SoCal Gas, the largest gas company in America, spent millions secretly paying people to oppose California environmental regulations, then illegally stuck its customers with the bill. We Californians were forced to pay to lobby against our own survival:

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article277266828.html

The criminal scheme is spelled out in eye-watering detail in a superb investigative report by Joe Rubin and Ari Plachta for the Sacramento Bee, which names the law firms and individual lawyers involved in the scam.

Here's the situation: SoCal Gas is California's private, regulated gas monopoly. They are allowed to lobby, but are legally required to charge their lobbying activities to their shareholders, and are prohibited from raising customer rates to pay for lobbying.

The company spent years secretly violating this rule, in the sleaziest way possible: working with corporate cartels like the California Restaurant Association and BizFed, the monopoly paid BigLaw white-shoe firms to procure people who posed as concerned citizens in order to oppose climate regulations that are essential to the state's very survival.

The bill topped $36 million – and it was illegally charged to its customers, the Californians whose immediate health and long-term survival these efforts opposed. SoCal Gas refuses to disclose the full extent of the spending, as do its lawyer-procurers, who cite legal confidentiality and a First Amendment right to secretly seek to influence policy in their refusal to disclose their profits from this illegal conduct.

The law firms involved are a who's-who of California's most prominent corporate fixers, including Reichman Jorgensen and Holland & Knight. The partners involved have a long rap sheet for anti-climate dirty tricking, most notably Jennifer Hernandez, notorious in climate justice history for an incident where activists claim she posed as one of them, infiltrating a campaign to force corporate despoilers to clean up their pollution in order to sabotage it, while secretly on a wealthy, prominent landowner's payroll.

Hernandez claims to care about the environment and says that her longstanding, corporate-funded, extensive campaigns and lawsuits against state environmental regulations are motivated by concern over their impact on working people. Her firm, Holland & Knight, denies serving SoCal Gas in opposing gas regulations, but it received $594k in ratepayer dollars, and submitted comments opposing the rules on its own behalf. Those comments were nearly identical to the comments submitted by SoCal Gas.

Hernandez also represents an obscure organization called The Two Hundred for Home Ownership in "a flurry of lawsuits" over California Air Resources Board rules on pollution, seeking to overturn the state's landmark climate change regulations.

Two Hundred for Home Ownership was founded by Robert Apodaca, who told the Bee that Hernandez's work for him is pro bono and not funded by SoCal Gas, but his entry into the fray occurred just as SoCalGas was founding an astroturf group called Californians for Fair and Balanced Energy (C4BES), which pretended to be an independent organization, disguising its relationship with SoCal Gas.

Apodaca is also founder of United Latinos Vote, an organization that had been largely dormant for seven years, not receiving any donations, until 2018, when the California Building Industry Association gave it $99k. The CBIA is a large-dollar recipient of donations from SoCal Gas, and its CEO insists that it was not acting on SoCal Gas's behalf when it made its unpredented donation to Apodaca.

The CBIA donation to United Latinos Vote was forerunner to a flood of corporate donations from the likes of Chevron, Marathon and Phillips 66. Shortly after receiving this cash, United Latinos Vote ran a full page ad in the LA Times, accusing the Sierra Club of pushing for anti-gas appliance rules that would harm working class Latino families.

This ad, in turn, featured prominently in advocacy by the SoCal Gas front group C4BES, funded with $29.1m in ratepayer money, which it then spent seeking to link clean appliance rules with anti-Latino racism. A quarter of California's carbon emissions come from home gas use.

SoCal Gas is regulated by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC), which tolerated this mounting illegal conduct for many years, even as the company circulated internal memos as early as 2015 discussing its plans to oppose electrification in the state on the basis that it constituted "a significant risk to our business."

But last year, CPUC fined SoCal Gas $10m. Now, CPUC's Public Advocate office has filed a damning, extensive report on SoCal Gas's unlawful conduct, seeking $80m in rate cuts to compensate Californians for the funds misappropriated to protect the company's shareholder interests:

https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M517/K407/517407314.PDF

Additionally, the Public Advocate is demanding $233m in fines for the company's refusal to allow investigators to audit its books and discover the full extent of the fraud.

SoCal Gas is the nation's largest utility, but (incredibly), it's not the dirtiest. That prize goes to Ohio's FirstEnergy, which handed $60m in ratepayer dollars to state politicians in illegal bribes in exchange for coal and nuclear subsidies and cancellation of state climate rules. That scandal led to GOP speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder being sentenced to 20 years in prison:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_nuclear_bribery_scandal

There is something extraordinarily sleazy about using ratepayers' own money to lobby against their interests. SoCal Gas and its Big Law enablers have funneled millions in Californian's money into campaigns to poison us and boil us alive, and they did it while using workers and racialized people as human shields.

I'm kickstarting the audiobook for "The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation," a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and make a new, good internet to succeed the old, good internet. It's a DRM-free book, which means Audible won't carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/19/cooking-the-books-with-gas/#reichman-jorgensen

Image: Maryland GovPics (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdgovpics/6635539089/

Jackie (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/79874304@N00/197532792

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

#pluralistic #socal gas #california #climate emergency #climate denial #Reichman Jorgensen #california restaurant association #astroturf #Holland and Knight #puc #cpuc #california public utility company #fraud #Alice Walton #bribery #ohio #bizfed #Jennifer Hernandez #American Gas Association #The Two Hundred for Home Ownership #Robert Apodaca #Californians for Fair and Balanced Energy #C4BES #United Latinos Vote #Chevron #Marathon #Phillips 66 #sacramento bee #sacbee #Joe Rubin

[chimaeraonwards]

no ai generated content will ever compare to the absolutely cartoonishly evil plot to cut down trees to prevent workers from striking to get livable wage.

#tree law #sag strike #wga strike #also also it can be hard to admit but the US does set some industry standards so although im on the other side of the world its concerning!! #if bigwigs at US companies are screwing out their own workers what would this mean for those producing content in other countries? #what about our own local production companies that model american production houses? #oh we cant pay you a living wage cause thats industry standard. dont believe me? here is what a writer at X USA company at X TV show earns #also if you “cant afford” to pay your creatives a living wage then maybe you shouldnt be in charge #so yeah #i think this whole strike thing will affect more than just the US #just fucking pay your creatives

[goryhorroor]

horror sub-genres: werewolf

#horror sub-genres #horror #horror movies #horroredit #moviesedit #filmedit #cinema #horror cinema #horror aesthetic #an american werewolf in london #the wolf man #the howling #ginger snaps #the beast must die #trick 'r treat #wolfen #the wolfman #wolfcop #the curse of the werewolf #american werewolf in paris #the company of wolves #silver bullet #the wolf of snow hollow #dog soldiers #late phases #teddy #bad moon #when animals dream #howl #the monster squad

[classichorrorblog]

10 Werewolf Movies To Consider For October/Halloween

#Horror #Filmedit #Horroredit #An American Werewolf In London #The Company Of Wolves #Cursed #The Curse Of The Werewolf #Dog Soldiers #Ginger Snaps #The Howling #Silver Bullet #Wolfcop #The Wolfman #CHB #10 Movies To Consider #I am not saying that these are the best or that they are my favorites. #Just 10 movies that I think are worth watching for the season. #Flashing Gif

[thebluelagooncompany-567]

#Hair down #Black Lagoon #Manga #Rokurou Okajima #Rock Okajima #Japanese #Chinese-American #seinen #rei hiroe #lagoon company #gunslinger #mentally unstable character #Revy “Two-hand” Lee #Rebecca “Revy” Lee

[soyuria]

About 45% of U.S. small businesses are freezing hiring amid runaway inflation and rising labor costs

About 45% of U.S. small businesses are freezing hiring amid runaway inflation and rising labor costs

About 45% of small business owners in the United States are freezing the hiring of new workers due to high labor costs and soaring inflation, according to the Alignable July Hiring Report. A competing survey yielded similar results, interviewing 4,739 small business owners, conducted from late June to mid-July. This despite the fact that 51% of small employers are still trying to find workers to…

View On WordPress

#American companies #hiring freeze #OLD TIMES #small business owners

[lionofchaeronea]

A Trinity of Dragons: Fire, Earth, and Water, Rookwood Pottery Co., 1892

#art #art history #ceramics #pottery #dragons #Chinese dragons #Rookwood Pottery Company #American art #19th century art #Cincinnati Art Museum

[dame-de-pique]

American Photographic Company (firm) - Mrs Rabone, 1870s

#American Photographic Company #John McGarrigle #portrait

[theamericanpin-up]

Joyce Ballantyne - "Black Boa" - November 1955 Bowman's Automotive Advertising Calendar Illustration - Shaw-Barton Calendar Co. - Original art sold by Heritage Art Gallery

#joyce ballantyne #november #1955 #bowmans automotive #calendar #illustration #shaw barton calendar company #pin up #american pin up #heritage art gallery

[timetravelingcourtney]

#american girl #pleasant company #mattel #wondering which girl and what the movie product line will be

[britsyankswheels24]

🇺🇲 Step back in time and experience the roar of the iconic AMC Javelin, a true legend of American muscle cars! Introduced in 1967 by American Motors Corporation (AMC), the Javelin was a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop automobile manufactured across two generations, spanning from 1968 through 1970 and then from 1971 through 1974 model years. It was designed to compete in the pony car market segment against rivals like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro.

🚗💨 The AMC Javelin burst onto the scene in 1968, showcasing a sleek design and powerful engines. Styled by Dick Teague, the Javelin offered a range of trim and engine levels, from economical pony car variants to high-performance muscle car models. Its distinctive appearance, featuring a long hood and aggressive stance, turned heads on the streets and racetracks alike.

🏭 Besides being manufactured in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Javelins were also assembled under license in Germany, Mexico, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Australia, showcasing its global reach. American Motors even offered discounts to U.S. military personnel, leading to many Javelins being exported overseas.

🛞 Under the hood, the Javelin packed serious power. It was available with inline-six engines or potent V8s, delivering thrilling acceleration and speed. The AMX variant, equipped with a 6.4-liter V8, boasted over 300 horsepower!

🏆 The AMC Javelin wasn't just about looks—it excelled on the track too. It competed in Trans-Am racing, demonstrating its speed and agility. In fact, the second-generation AMX variant was the first pony car used as a standard vehicle for highway police car duties by an American law enforcement agency. Today, the Javelin's unique style and racing heritage make it a sought-after classic among collectors.

💔 By 1974, the automobile landscape had shifted. While other manufacturers downsized engines in response to changing market demands and fuel shortages, the Javelin's big engine option continued until production ceased in November 1974 amidst the Arab oil embargo and declining interest in high-performance vehicles.

🦅 The AMC Javelin embodies the spirit of American muscle cars, blending style, performance, and affordability. It's a timeless classic that continues to capture the hearts of car enthusiasts everywhere. Get ready to hit the road and experience the thrill of the AMC Javelin!

#brits and yanks on wheels #retro cars #transatlantic torque #vehicle #cars #old cars #brands #companies #automobile #american cars #amc #american motors #american muscle #amc javelin #javelin #muscle car #pony car #race car #trans am #old car #classic cars #car #american auto #automotive #chevrolet camaro #chrysler #wisconsin #kenosha #made in usa #ford mustang

[5hensandacockatiel]

I feel like we all can agree that Kaya is one of the most underrated American Girls.

#american girl #agig #americangirl #ag dolls #american girl photography #kaya #Kaya'aton'my #pleasant company #recreation

[rugwurm]

sailing the black sea this time

#scribbles #limbus company #ishmael #deep down in my heart shes an old american sailor #but sometimes u just gotta #ROMANIANIFICATION BEAM!!! #to ur fav #girl that keeps walking into urzică #also sorry to cow enthusiasts i cant draw farm animals

[silvermoon424]

The fact that most European companies treat their non-European employees like shit- despite the fact that Western Europeans enjoy the highest level of workers' rights in the world- just because they can get away with it in the United States or whatever is proof why regulations are needed.

European workers are only treated better than their American counterparts because there are laws protecting them, not because European corporations are so much more humanitarian than American companies. Never forget that under capitalism companies will exploit you for all you're worth and all they can legally get away with.

#post inspired by my partner working as a contractor at IKEA and being treated like absolute shit with no benefits or a permeant position #while her European counterparts got amazing benefits and were always talking about their many vacations #also my mom worked at a German-owned company where the employees were treated just as bad as your average American worker #COMPANIES WANT TO EXPLOIT YOU!!! WE NEED LAWS TO PROTECT US!!! #fuck capitalism #capitalism #leftism #workers rights #labor rights

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

Ford Motor Company

#ford motor company #Ford #car #cars #muscle car #american muscle

[unitedstatesoffandom]

United States of Don Quiote Limbus Company

United States of Don Quixote !!

#american flag #edit #united states of fandom #limbus company #limbus company don quixote #don quixote