Rudy’s Law Firm Led Effort to Kill Senate Energy Bill

Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress at 1:00 PM on December 10, 2007.

This post, written by Amanda Terkel, originally appeared on Think Progress

Yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said that he "sever" his "financial ties" to his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, if he becomes president. "No, I'm an owner," said Giuliani. He assured host Tim Russert that his ties won't be a problem because he would "live up to whatever ethical or legal obligations are required." Watch the video to your right.

Yet Giuliani has so far been unable to separate his campaign positions from his business interests. Giuliani is one of the utility companies' strongest supporters. Perhaps not surprisingly, his law firm, Bracewell & Giluliani LLP was hired by these groups to lead the intense lobbying against the Senate energy bill, which would have forced utility companies to "boost electricity generated by wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy to 15 percent of the U.S. total by 2020."

While Giuliani has stepped down as head of his law firm, he continues to "retain his equity stake in the company." Last year, the firm paid him about $4 million, and he has collected $89,000 in contributions from Bracewell partners and employees.

A look at how Giuliani's campaign has benefited from his law firm's ties to the energy industry:

- Giuliani's campaign has collected more than $400,000 from employees of companies in the oil, gas, and energy industries.

- In August, Giuliani spoke to "representatives of the coal industry at a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser...saying, 'We have to increase our reliance on coal' in the future."

- Scott Segal, a Bracewell lobbyist, "is director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, an industry group that focuses on air- quality issues and includes Southern Co., Progress Energy Inc. and other utilities." Southern Co. hired Bracewell to lead the lobbying campaign against the Senate bill.

Bracewell and Giuliani also recently dropped its contract to "lobby Texas legislators on behalf of Citgo Petroleum Corp., a Houston-based oil company ultimately controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez."

Tagged as: chavez, energy, election08, giuliani

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.