Some conceptions of globalization argue that the
role of the nation state is essentially replaced by global organizations
and multinational firms. In many ways, this is the very antithesis
of subsidiarity. Yet a paradox is posed by the fact that, in the
United States, U.S.-based multinationals have increasingly invested
substantial sums in campaign financing. Sharp changes in the Bush
administra-tion’s energy policies suggest that this administration
has been influenced by contributions from major contributors to
the 2000 presidential campaign. Changes include a clearer rejection
of the Kyoto Accord, and policies that are likely to increase
the contributions of the United States to global gases at even
a faster rate than present emissions. We thus argue that the U.S.
state is not powerless, but rather has been coopted by capital
forces in the global economy.
We examine the background of the largest energy
contributor to the Bush campaign, Enron, in some detail. Corporate
policies seem to depend substan-tially upon energy proposals such
as Bush has recently promoted. There is no acknowledgement of
global warming or the Kyoto proposals in Enron’s annual report,
and there is an expansionary thrust for energy (and other commodities)
that is the antithesis of sustainable development. While Bush’s
attacks on the Kyoto Accord have been in the name of “American
workers,” the Enron case suggests that it is stockholders
and not stakeholders who stood to gain under these new proposals.
Further complexity to the political infrastructure of this decision-making
is added by considerations of how different groups of stockholders
around the world may facilitate U.S. campaign financing, working
through the portals of “U.S.-based” multinationals.
This preliminary analysis of contemporary “energy politics”
suggests that environmental and social considerations of national
energy policies are likely to be swamped by the influence of global
stockholders, using campaign financing as well as other modes
of influence. We conclude by arguing that the collapse of
Enron suggests that its influence had little to do with
national economic security, but rather the political needs that
emerge from our current system of campaign finance. This raises
vexing issues for long-term environmental sustainability.
Allan Schnaiberg, Department
of Sociology, Northwestern University
Adam S. Weinberg, Department of Sociology and Anthropology,
Colgate University
Click on
the working paper title at the top of this
page to download a free pdf of the paper.*
If You Need to Order a Hard Copy: Hard copies
of IPR working papers cost $5.00 each (international orders are $10 each). We only accept checks drawn on U.S. bank and payable in U.S. funds. Checks or money orders should be made
payable to Northwestern University and sent to the following address:
Publications Department - WP Orders
Institute for Policy Research
2040 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208-4100.
For information, call 847-491-8712 or email ipr@northwestern.edu.
Please note that we do not accept credit cards.
*Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 (or higher) is needed to read the Acrobat pdf.
If you need to install Acrobat Reader, click the button below. Once the file
has downloaded onto your desktop, run it to install the reader on your hard
drive.
