An analysis from climate-lobbying think-tank InfluenceMap found that the tech giants had only spent around 6% of their federal lobbying activities between July 2020 and June 2021 on climate policy.
“Arguably some of the most powerful companies based in the U.S., which are these Big 5 tech companies, are not deploying that influence that they have to strategically support climate policy,” InfluenceMap Program Manager Kendra Haven tells Treehugger in an email.
‘Net-Zero’ Influence
The InfluenceMap analysis was based on the five companies’ internal reports of their own lobbying activity at the federal and state levels. During 2019 and 2020, the companies’ only devoted around 4% of their lobbying to climate issues, compared to an average of 38% from Big Oil.
In California, where Apple, Alphabet, and Facebook are all headquartered, they spent a similarly low amount of their lobbying on climate issues, while Chevron, for example, focused 51% of its lobbying on climate-related issues.
Because of this, InfluenceMap argues that Big Tech could have a “net-zero” impact on climate policy overall.
“These companies are dishing out money to highly active industry associations, so when they say, ‘Oh, we’re having a positive impact because we’ve spoken out here and there in support of these little bits of legislation,’ that is nothing in comparison to the strategy, the extensive, monied strategy, of these industry associations that are right in the halls of Congress,” Haven says.
Why Big Tech?
But why would Big Tech companies be expected to lobby around climate issues?
However, Haven points out this is “an unprecedented moment for climate policy in the U.S.” The Build Back Better Act, which would be the biggest climate investment in U.S. history, passed the House last month and now awaits a vote in the Senate. Haven argues that a strong climate policy would make it easier for tech companies to meet their internal commitments.
“They have a clear interest in a generation mix that’s powered by renewable energy and they have a long-term vision for a world . . . with progressive climate policy. But they’re just not putting their muscle behind that vision,” she says.
Further, InfluenceMap’s 2021 A-List of Climate Policy Engagement identifies several non-energy companies that lead on climate lobbying, including Unilever, IKEA, and Nestlé. The reason InfluenceMap thinks the five Big Tech companies should join them is partly because of their massive economic importance. The five companies grew by leap and bounds during the coronavirus pandemic and made up 25%t of the value of the S&P 500 and 20% of its profits during the third quarter of 2020.
“We know that companies that represent massive numbers of jobs and contributions to the economy are the companies that have the most sway when it comes to policy lobbying, because they get to claim that level of impact on the economy when they meet with policy makers,” she says.
