American Chemistry Council
This organization represents companies in the chemistry industry, including DuPont, Dow Corning Corporation and Occidental Chemical Corporation.

What They Want
ACC stresses the importance of including measures in climate change legislation that will help chemical companies compete internationally in a greener economy.

"So many of the products that we were manufacturing are integral to achieving higher levels of energy efficiency," said Cal Dooley, ACC's president and CEO, citing the industry's development of products like insulation for more efficient houses and plastics for lighter-weight cars. "We can only be at the forefront... if we are competitive internationally," he added.

ACC representatives say a 14 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 is a reasonable goal that would help ease companies into the "higher cost carbon environment." The House bill sets its sights on a 17 percent reduction, while the Senate bill aims for a 20 percent reduction.

The coalition also sees the need for investment in diversified domestic energy sources to prevent a potential flight to natural gas that could drive up costs for companies.

Deal Breakers
To ensure international competitiveness, Dooley said, legislation must include reasonable emissions allocations that take into consideration the fact that the chemical industry is more energy-intensive than others.

Energy-intensive industries should receive 15 percent of emissions allocations, Dooley said, arguing that anything less "is going to really limit our ability to maintain our manufacturing base in the United States."

How Much They've Spent
Through September, ACC has spent $4.9 million on lobbying activities this year, compared with $3.15 million at this point in 2008, according to lobbying disclosure forms.

ACC's PAC has donated $163,914 to federal candidates and committees for the 2010 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records. Of the money contributed to candidates, 71 percent has gone to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Recipients include Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. During the 2008 election cycle, the PAC donated $360,018 to candidates and committees.

The group ran television and online ads during August in Arkansas, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio and Virginia, on the need to include job-creating measures in climate change legislation. ACC spent around $1 million on the campaign, which also included educational and engagement activities.

ACC's total revenue for 2007 was $120.1 million, according to IRS forms.

Key Players
Dooley (right), ACC's president and CEO since 2008, was a Democratic congressman representing the 20th district of California from 1991 to 2004. While in Congress, Dooley served on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Resources Committee.

He has met with congressmen and senators on the committees of jurisdiction to make "the case for why the legislation should be structured to protect our competitiveness," Dooley said, adding that Reps. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Jay Inslee, D-Wash., both of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, have been particularly receptive to his message.

ACC is also working on legislative goals as part of a larger coalition of "energy-intensive" industries, the American Materials Manufacturing Alliance.

"We believe a basic principle of climate policy is that it should not undermine the competitive position of US manufacturers in the global marketplace," wrote members of that coalition -- representing the aluminum, chemical, paper, iron and steel industries -- in a letter last month to Boxer requesting changes to the emissions allowance provisions of the Senate's climate change bill.

Dooley is a registered lobbyist, and ACC employs nine other registered lobbyists, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

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