Municipalities struggling with the increasing frequency of flooding, drought and wildfire brought on by climate change are hiring professional lobbying firms to get action from Alberta’s government. And the firms that several local governments now employ are also lobbying for major fossil fuel companies, a report from the lobbying watchdog group F Minus found.
“That's a very questionable business model of essentially getting paid to further a problem that is resulting in more business for the firm from other clients,” said James Browning, executive director of F Minus.
“These firms are getting paid to further Canada's dependence on fossil fuels, but then of course that dependence is leading to worse long-term climate impacts for these local governments, which then generates more business for the same lobbying firm.”
