US fossil fuel lobbyists also represent hundreds of cities fighting for climate damages
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- F Minus and Make Polluters Pay analyzed Q1 2026 congressional lobbying disclosures and found that fossil fuel lobbyists simultaneously represent more than 300 local governments seeking climate damage funding, plus another 568 local governments that hired such lobbyists on non-climate issues.
- Greenberg Traurig lobbied for API, ConocoPhillips, and the Western States Petroleum Association — all opponents of climate superfund legislation — while also representing Miami-Dade county on shoreline protection and Everglades restoration, as well as Westchester county and Rochester, NY.
- The Brown University Climate and Development Lab found that across four introductions of climate superfund bills in New Jersey, more registered lobbyists opposed the legislation than supported it, even though a majority of public testimony favored the bills.
- The Stop Climate Shakedowns Act, introduced in April 2026 by Rep. Harriet Hageman and Sen. Ted Cruz, would dismiss climate accountability lawsuits and prohibit climate superfund laws; API, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, and Koch Companies disclosed lobbying on it in Q2 2026.
- Opponents of climate superfund legislation repeated nine debunked claims per the Brown report — including that fees would raise fuel prices — an assertion lead author Trevor Culhane and director Timmons Roberts called "preposterous" because oil is a global commodity.
- F Minus launched a new database tracking congressional lobbyists who work simultaneously for fossil fuel clients and local governments, expanding from its state-level fossil fuel lobbyist database launched in 2023.
Why it matters: More than 300 municipalities seeking climate damage recovery are paying the same firms — like Greenberg Traurig, which represents API and ConocoPhillips — that lobby against the state climate superfund laws those cities depend on for funding. Miami-Dade's shoreline protection and Everglades restoration work is being handled by a firm simultaneously fighting the legislation that would help pay for it.
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