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"We have determined that we can effectively
pursue policy matters of current interest to BP without renewing
our membership in ALEC," a spokesman said. BP was the second
large oil company to drop support of the group after Occidental
Petroleum cut ties last year.
Companies have come under pressure from environmental and civic
groups to end their associations with the American Legislative
Exchange Council, a coalition of about 2,000 state lawmakers and
corporations that promotes free trade and limited government
intervention.
With the sharp drop in oil prices since last year, energy
companies have also come under pressure to cut capital costs,
personnel, and other expenses.
The BP spokesman would not comment further on what caused the
company to take the move.
Common Cause and other civic groups have said ALEC promotes
measures to deny the existence of climate change, defund public
services and limit workers' protections.
Late last year online auction company Ebay Inc ended its
association with ALEC. Earlier in 2014, Google did the same.
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt said his company wanted
out because ALEC was "literally lying" about climate change, and
several other tech companies stopped supporting ALEC afterwards.
ALEC spokesman Bill Meierling said his group looks forward to
potential future partnerships with BP. "ALEC is proud to stand
with American business, especially energy companies, to advance
jobs, opportunity and innovation across the United States," he
said.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Diane Craft)
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