Big Oil divided over (GW) initiative (California)

[jpak]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/3736826.html

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's pledge to fight global warming has opened a rift as wide as the Atlantic Ocean between two groups of oil companies in California.

The governor's high-profile initiative, which sets firm targets to reduce the greenhouse gas pollution that contributes to global warming, is supported by BP, the London-based oil giant whose Arco gasoline is the state's biggest seller, and Royal Dutch Shell of The Hague, Netherlands, owner of the Shell brand.

U.S. companies such as Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, Calif., and Exxon Mobil Corp. of Irving oppose the directive. In private, the Americans, who generally bristle at state intervention in the market, snidely refer to their trans-Atlantic cousins as "the Europeans," who have adapted to a culture back home of stiff government regulation, expensive social-welfare networks and heavy taxes.

The greenhouse gas clash, which is just beginning to build momentum, marks a rare dispute among the large petroleum companies that make millions of dollars a year in political contributions.

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[phantom power]

1. It's fascinating...

what years of buying off American politicians does to your ego.