Energy and the Environment

A Steward for the Preservation of...Corporate Profits

Sununu has taken more than $170,000 dollars from his friends in the oil and gas industry and votes to support them, over the environment, whenever he can. He's still questioning the validity of global warming.

He isn't sure about the causes of global warming...

Sununu Wanted to See More Research Before Concluding that Humans Were Affecting Global Warming. In April 2007, Sununu said that he was not sure about how much humans were affecting global warming, and that he wanted to see additional research before concluding on climate change. Sununu said, "The best models out there can‘t calculate precisely how much is human influence and how much isn‘t. But we need to put a lot of money into climate modeling and research necessary to understand how all the different greenhouse gases . . . impact long-term global temperature." Sununu‘s comments were similar to one he had made two years prior on the issue. Since then, though, "more than 2,500 scientists from around the world have released reports saying that they are 90 percent certain that humans are contributing to warming and that ecosystems on every continent could be changed before the end of the century. Local modeling forecasts that New Hampshire‘s climate could feel like Atlanta‘s by then." [Concord Monitor, 4/17/07]

Republicans and Local New Hampshire Businessmen Criticized Sununu for Obstruction on Global Warming. In response to Sununu‘s skepticism on global warming, Sununu was criticized by fellow Republicans and local businessmen. Ted Leach, Republican co-chairman of the Carbon Coalition, a group of businesses, community groups and activists that campaign to get climate change issues on town ballots - 150 New Hampshire towns passed such measures - said of Sununu, "I think he should be paying attention to what the people in New Hampshire are saying and joining the senior senator (Judd Gregg) in acknowledging that this is a huge problem." [Concord Monitor, 4/17/07]

So he doesn't support reducing carbon pollution...

Sununu Repeatedly Voted Against Bipartisan Proposal To Reduce Green House Emissions. In 2005, Sununu voted against an amendment to limit greenhouse emissions. Sen. John McCain's amendment would have limited greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2010. The amendment would also have allowed the trading of emission allowances and reductions through a government sponsored greenhouse gas database that maintained an inventory of emissions and a registry of reductions. Sununu had voted against similar plans in 2003 and 2004. [Vote 148, 6/22/05; CBS, Market Watch, 6/22/05; Union Leader, 10/31/03; Vote 420, 10/30/03]

• Editorial: Sununu Should Change his Vote on Global Warming Bill. In 2004, the Concord Monitor editorial board wrote, "The handful of scientists and the majority of Republican members of Congress who still consider global warming a possibility rather than a reality are clinging to an iceberg in the sun. Eventually, icebergs invert. So it is with the evidence that global climate change is real. The iceberg has inverted. The opinion of scientists is virtually unanimous and on top. The global warming doubters, among them Sen. John Sununu and scientists in the employ of fossil fuel industries, are making their arguments underwater. This week, the Senate is scheduled to vote for the second time on a bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman to slow the pace of climate change. It calls for reducing industrial emissions of carbon dioxide to 2000 levels by 2010. That‘s a modest goal that can be achieved without harming America‘s ability to compete in the global marketplace. On its first go-round in the Senate, the McClain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act got just 43 votes. Sununu voted against it. This year, we expect a majority will approve it. We hope Sen. Sununu, who is alone among New England senators in his opposition to the bill, will reconsider."[Concord Monitor, Editorial, 6/1/04]

Sununu Opposed Resolution Calling for Curbs on Carbon Emissions. In committee, Sununu opposed a 2006 sense of the senate resolution introduced by Senators Richard Lugar and Joe Biden that urged the Bush administration to negotiate with other industrialized nations to curb greenhouse gas emissions. [E&E News PM, 5/23/06]

Sununu Says Cutting Carbon Emissions Would Have Minimal Impact. According to the Concord Monitor, Sununu said in an email that he opposed measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions because their projected climatic impact would be minimal and the costs would be significant. [Concord Monitor, 9/20/06; Eagle Times, 9/21/06]

Editorial: Even Weak Measures to Reduce Greenhouse Gases Were too Much for Sununu. In 2003, the Concord Monitor editorial board wrote, "Late last month, the U.S. Senate approved a run-in-place energy bill so its members could hurry home to take vacations. …Despite President Bush‘s call for another decade of study, a vast majority of scientists agree that global warming and climate change are real. Yet the long-awaited energy bill does virtually nothing to improve the homeland‘s energy security or to curb the emission of carbon dioxide that rises to shield the Earth like a greenhouse roof. The best that can be said about the bill is that it is not as bad as the alternative backed by Bush. The legislation saw New Hampshire‘s senators split their votes: Judd Gregg voted for the bill, John Sununu against it. He was the only New England senator to do so….There‘s no way, of course, to neatly or surely link the uncharacteristic weather to global warming and the burning of fossil fuels. The trend, however, is clear. The world‘s weather appears to be growing more extreme. It may not take extreme measures to begin to reverse that trend, but it will take far more than the weak energy bill senators approved last week. Sadly, even that weak bill was too strong for Sununu." [Concord Monitor, Editorial, 6/28/03]

Or our dependence on foreign oil.

Sununu Voted Against Cutting Oil Imports By 40%. In 2005, Sununu voted against a proposal to reduce America‘s dependency on foreign oil by 40% over the next 20 years. [Vote 140, 6/16/05]

Sununu Twice Voted Against Boosting CAFE Standards. In 2005, Sununu voted against an amendment that would have mandated phased increases in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Passenger vehicles made before 2008 would have to average 25 miles per gallon. The standard would gradually increase to 40 miles per gallon by model year 2016. Non-passenger vehicles made before 2008 would have to average 17 miles per gallon. By model year 2016, the standard would rise to an average of 27.5 miles per gallon. Sununu voted against a similar amendment in 2003. The amendment would have also closed the so-called "SUV loophole." [Vote 157, 6/29/05; Vote 309, 7/29/03]

Sununu Helped Protect $5 Billion Big Oil Tax Windfall. Tax loopholes that save the oil industry $5 billion were removed from the original Senate version of the GOP tax reconciliation bill in February 2006, but after heavy lobbying by the industry, Congressional negotiators reinserted them into the final bill. The $5 billion tax break for big-oil could have been used instead to partially offset the increase in middle class taxes. John Sununu voted for the final tax bill with the big-oil tax breaks. [Republican Policy Committee, 2/7/06; Washington Post, 4/26/06; Joint Tax Committee, 5/9/06; Vote 118, 5/11/06]

Sununu Opposed Protecting Consumers From Gouging By Oil Companies. After Hurricane Katrina, Sununu helped to kill a proposal to make gas price gouging a federal crime. If price gouging is not designated as a federal crime, the federal government can prosecute oil companies only if it can prove collusion to control markets, a standard that is nearly impossible to meet. [Vote 334, 11/17/05; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 11/18/05]

Sununu Twice Rejected Windfall Profits Tax for Big Oil in 2005. In November 2005, Sununu voted against imposing a temporary 50% tax on oil company profits from the sale of any crude oil above $40 a barrel. Revenues from the tax would be used to provide income tax rebates to consumers. The same day, Sununu voted against a separate but similar windfall tax amendment that would use the revenue to provide a $100 income tax credit for every personal exemption. [Vote 331, 11/17/05; Vote 341, 11/17/05; Houston Chronicle, 11/17/05; Las Vegas Review-Journal, 11/18/05; Environment and Energy Daily¸ 11/18/05]

John E. sides with big oil and gas.