Political Influence
AEP's political action committee, the American Electric Power Committee for Responsible Government, has increased spending since the 1998 election cycle, reaching $1.4 million in contributions in 2007-2008, 57 percent to Republicans. Also in 2008, American Electric Power significantly increased lobbying expenditures from less than $2 million a year to over $11 million, as climate legislation became a key issue in Washington. As of December 2011, lobbying expenses remained between $6 million and $10 million per year.
In 2009, AEP CEO Michael Morris contributed $100,000 to Newt Gingrich's American Solutions for Winning the Future, which supports increased oil drilling and opposes mandatory limits on greenhouse gas pollution. American Electric Power is also a member of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a lobbying and marketing organization which opposes President Obama's climate and clean energy legislation.
Read more about this topic: American Electric Power
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or influence:
“I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.... It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.”
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“Perhaps I stand now on the eve of a new life, shall watch the sun rise and disappear behind a black cloud extending out into a grey sky cover. I shall not be deceived by its glory. If it is to be so, there is work and the influence that work brings, but not happiness. Am I strong enough to face that?”
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