Oil industry prepares $30 million fight back

[Rose Siding]

The oil industry is preparing a new, multimillion-dollar lobbying and educational campaign in response to growing political pressures brought on by rising gas prices, oil lobbyists said.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), the industry’s main trade group, plans a yearlong grassroots lobbying push that could cost in excess of $30 million to explain how the industry works and what has caused pump prices to jump.

The campaign would follow a national advertising effort that has cost around $25 million so far. The API launched it in October as companies began to report record revenues and members of both parties urged punitive measures, such as new taxes on what they saw as “windfall” profits.

Jim Craig, API vice president for communications, said the group is considering new ways to communicate with the public and politicians as it continues its advertising campaign.

He said no decisions have been made about the parameters of the new effort.......

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/042606/news2.html

[mdmc]

1. gas is undervalued

we are lucky that we can buy it at all. It will cost more then 30 mill to make this stick.

[Pacifist Patriot]

2. ROTFL! $30M when 1 gas company's profits for 1 year were $36B.

Shoot folks, that's chump change there. And if it didn't insult me enough.....they could be using the $30M to R&D cost-effective, environmentally-safe, reusable energy sources.

FUCKERS!

Pardon me.

[ThomCat]

3. $30 million to lie, and blame prices

on everyone except themselves. $30 million to claim that there are a hundred causes for high prices, except their own greed.

And all the right wing talking heads are going to jump on their band-wagon and give them a huge amount of additional free air time.

[tatertop]

9. Time to play blame the victim

Rush approves!

[ThomCat]

10. That bastard needs to be in jail first.

Let him approve of anything he wants from there.

[tatertop]

11. Criminals run this show, beasts get a free pass

[AndyA]

4. It won't work. Not when their executives are being paid so much.

If things were tight, they wouldn't be paying their executives in the manner they are. $36 billion a year profit tells me gas could be much more affordable at the pump, if they'd just price it fairly.

[DUHandle]

5. Maybe it's a cost neutral campaign

since there should be saving and additional profit from rolling back the pollution laws on crude oil processing.

[bif]

6. Let's not reduce our profits

to creaste good press. Let's SPEND $30 million to re-educate the people.

[depakid]

7. "grassroots" "educational outreach"

Stay tuned....

[Akoto]

8. Oil industry prepares to fight back with pocket change.

[DemoTex]

12. $30 million to explain how the industry works?

That has to be the most disingenuous line of crap I have ever seen in print. Who-the-fuck do they think they are fooling? They might as well douse that $30-million with 93-octane and throw a match on it. Fuck them and their blatant insults to our intelligence.

[BigDDem]

13. What's that

about a weeks pay for the Exxon CEO?