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sheldon whitehouse
Fear of ‘Corporate Capture’ at COP30 as Record 1,600+ Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Swarm
"We see the very corporations driving this crisis being given a platform to foist the same false ‘solutions’ that sustain their profit motives."
Nov 14, 2025
A environmental advocacy group is warning about the potential "corporate capture" of the COP30 climate summit being held this week in Belém, Brazil.
In a report released on Friday, the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition said it tallied the “largest ever attendance share” for fossil fuel lobbyists, dimming hopes of reaching a breakthrough agreement to curb emissions.
In fact, KBPO found that fossil fuel lobbyists at the conference outnumber the delegations of every nation attending, with the lone exception being Brazil, which is hosting COP30.
In total, KBPO counted 1,602 fossil fuel lobbyists at the climate summit.
The number of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30 increased by 12% from last year's COP29 held in Baku, Azerbaijan, and lobbyists represent one out every 25 participants at this year's conference.
The KBPO report puts this into perspective by contrasting the number of lobbyists in attendance with the number of delegates from nations that have suffered the most from extreme weather brought about by human-induced climate change.
"Fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber official delegates from the Philippines by nearly 50 to 1—even while the country is being hit by devastating typhoons as the UN climate talks are underway," the report notes. "Fossil fuel lobbyists sent more than 40 times the number of people than Jamaica, which is still reeling from Hurricane Melissa."
Jax Bongon, climate justice policy officer at the sustainable development advocacy organization International IBON and a member of the KBPO coalition, said the heavy presence of lobbyists is "making a mockery of the process" of trying to negotiate a deal to reduce global carbon emissions.
"Just days after devastating floods and supertyphoons in the Philippines, and amid worsening droughts, heatwaves, and displacement across the Global South," Bongon said, "we see the very corporations driving this crisis being given a platform to foist the same false ‘solutions’ that sustain their profit motives and undermine any hope of truly addressing the climate emergency."
The report also called out several wealthy nations for including fossil fuel lobbyists in their delegations.
" France brought 22 fossil fuel delegates, with five from TotalEnergies, including CEO Patrick Pouyanné," KBPO noted. "Japan’s delegation contained 33 fossil fuel lobbyists, among them Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Osaka Gas; and Norway snuck 17 into the talks, including six senior executives from its national oil and gas giant Equinor."
Although the US under President Donald Trump is not taking part in this year's negotiations, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is attending COP30 as the lone federal representative of the US government.
According to Politico, Whitehouse intends to hammer the Trump administration for continuing to focus exclusively on fossil fuel production at a time when the rest of the world is moving on to producing renewable energy sources.
"Amidst sinking approvals and a shellacking in the most recent elections, it’s no surprise the Trump administration is unwilling to defend the fossil fuel industry’s unpopular and corrupt climate denial lies on the global stage," Whitehouse told Politico.
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Bondi Dodges Over Whether Trump Border Czar Kept $50,000 in Cash From Alleged Bribe Sting Operation
"I can see that I'm not going to get a straight answer from you to a very simple question," said a frustrated Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse during the hearing.
Oct 07, 2025
US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday dodged questions related to a $50,000 cash bribe that Trump administration official Tom Homan was allegedly caught on video accepting last year.
During testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Bondi was grilled by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) about the end of the FBI's investigation into Homan, who reportedly accepted a bag containing $50,000 in cash last year from undercover FBI agents whom he believed to be business executives seeking to win contracts under a second Trump administration.
Whitehouse started off by asking Bondi what became of the money that Homan allegedly took from the agents.
Bondi responded by insisting that "the investigation into Mr. Homan was subjected to a full review by the FBI, agents, and DOJ prosecutors," who "found no credible evidence of any wrongdoing."
"That was not my question," Whitehouse shot back. "My question was, what became of the $50,000 in cash that the FBI delivered, evidently in a paper bag, to Mr. Homan?"
"Senator, I'd look at your facts," Bondi replied.
After a brief pause, Whitehouse asked Bondi if she was saying that the FBI didn't actually hand Homan $50,000 in cash.
"Senator, as recently stated, the investigation into Mr. Homan was subjected to a full review," Bondi repeated. "They found no evidence of wrongdoing."
"That's a different question," Whitehouse pressed. "What became of the $50,000. Did the FBI get it back?"
Bondi responded by suggesting the senator "speak to the FBI"—which the attorney general ultimately oversees.
Whitehouse: What became of the $50,000 in cash that the FBI gave to Mr. Homan?
Bondi: The investigation of Mr. Homan was subjected to a full review They found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Whitehouse: What became of the $50,000? Did the FBI get it back?
Bondi: You're welcome to… pic.twitter.com/9mFjRTkJrS
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 7, 2025
Whitehouse later asked Bondi if Homan kept the $50,000, to which Bondi repeated her assertion that there was no evidence that Homan committed any crime.
"I can see that I’m not going to get a straight answer from you to a very simple question," the senator finally said.
Democrats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives last month announced that they were launching a probe into the US Department of Justice's handling of the Homan probe, and they asked the agency to preserve "any and all records related to the investigation into Mr. Homan and the decision to close the investigation," and to hand over materials including the FBI’s full investigative file and "any recordings of Mr. Homan receiving cash from undercover FBI agents."
Although Democrats as the minority party in Congress lack power to subpoena these files, they do have the option of conducting voluntary interviews with former Biden administration officials who had been briefed about the investigation into Homan.
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Senate GOP Approve 'Nuclear Option' to Ram Through 'Worst and Smelliest Stinkers' Nominated by Trump
"Congress is supposed to be a check on the Executive Branch, not a rubber stamp," said Sen. Alex Padilla, Democrat of California. "We won’t forget it."
Sep 12, 2025
In a move that allowed for confirmation of a bloc of 48 nominees to a variety of sub-cabinet positions across the executive branch that require Senate approval, Senate Majority Leader John Thune triggered what's been called the "nuclear option" on Thursday by lowering the threshold for passage and allowing group confirmations, an unprecedented change to chamber rules that will now hamper the minorities ability to slow or stop objectionable or unqualified candidates.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the group of nominees "historically bad," and was among those on the Democratic side to warn the move would forever change the nature of the Senate.
As NBC News explains:
The rule applies to executive branch nominees subject to two hours of Senate debate, including subcabinet picks and ambassadors. It will not affect judicial nominations. Republicans say they'll allow their own senators to object to individual nominees in any given block, but the rule will strip away the power of the minority party to do the same thing.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., initiated the process by bringing up a package of 48 Trump nominees, which under longstanding rules has been subject to the 60-vote threshold. The vote to advance them failed due to Democratic opposition. Then, Thune sought to reconsider and Republicans subsequently voted to overrule the chair, setting a precedent and establishing the new rule.
Thune had telegraphed the move for weeks, accusing Democrats of creating an "untenable situation" with historic obstruction of Trump's nominees. The vote was held up for hours Thursday as the two parties engaged in last-ditch negotiations to strike a deal to avoid a rules change.
In the end, those negotiations failed and Thune went ahead with the rule change, which passed along party lines in a 53-45 vote.
"You remember that 'nuclear option' that Republicans warned Democrats to never use because it attacked the fundamental structure of the Senate and put government at risk?" asked Democratic strategist and podcast host Max Burns. "Senate Republicans just used it."
Democratic senators denounced the move in the strongest terms, vowing to remember when political winds shift in the future.
"This 'nuclear' move," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), "allows Republicans to vote through Trump’s unqualified and unfit nominees in bunches—“en bloc”—so they can’t be held directly accountable for the worst and smelliest stinkers in the bunch."
"Republicans have permanently blown up the rules of the Senate to jam through Trump's unqualified nominees," said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). "Congress is supposed to be a check on the Executive Branch, not a rubber stamp. We won’t forget it."
The GOP effort, said Schumer in his remarks, "was not so much about ending obstruction, as they claim. Rather, it was another act of genuflection to the executive branch... to give Donald Trump more power and to rubber-stamp whomever he wants whenever he wants them, no questions asked."
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