Sen. Britt of Alabama Confronted on Her Ties to ‘Big Oil’

Amalia Hochman isn’t from Alabama, but she’s willing to fight for it anyway. 

Hochman, an organizer with the Sunrise Movement, approached Alabama’s junior senator, Katie Britt, in the halls of the U.S. Congress in May, confronting the Republican with a question about contributions she’s accepted from the fossil fuel industry. The activist, who’d recognized Britt at a congressional hearing she’d been attending, filmed the interaction, which was posted to the youth-led climate group’s social media accounts on Monday. 

“I was wondering how much money it would take to buy you back from Big Oil?” Hochman asked Britt in the video. 

Hey @SenKatieBritt , you can run away from climate youth activists but can’t escape the reality of climate change.

Climate change intensifies extreme weather events. In Alabama, the state you represent, the sea level along the coast might rise 18 inches to 4 feet in the next… pic.twitter.com/ISwQ5mGQJ4

— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) July 8, 2024

Britt, who appeared to be posing with Hochman at the beginning of the video, quickly dismissed Hochman as “dishonest” for asking for a selfie before questioning the lawmaker. 

Local media in Alabama repeated Britt’s claims, characterizing the incident as an “ambush.”

Britt’s office did not respond to a request for comment on her political contributions from the oil and gas industry, but staffers posted the interaction with Hochman to the senator’s official page on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. 

“Bless her heart,” Britt said in the post. “The U.S. must not just be energy independent, but energy dominant. Thanks to [the Sunrise Movement] for helping get my elevator pitch out.”

Britt, a Republican, began serving as the first woman elected to represent the state in the U.S. Senate in 2023 after running to replace her mentor, Richard Shelby, for whom she’d served in various roles, including chief of staff.

During that campaign, Britt accepted nearly $200,000 from oil and gas donors, according to Open Secrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks campaign contributions. 

The organization’s analysis of campaign finance reports also shows that the senator’s top donors include many energy-related funders, including those affiliated with Southern Company, the parent company of Alabama Power, and Drummond Co., a powerful coal company based in the state. Britt’s husband, Wesley Britt, has previously lobbied on behalf of Alabama Power, according to state ethics records, and now works for Fine and Geddie, a major lobbying outlet whose partners and employees gave nearly $30,000 to Katie Britt’s campaign. 

After her dismissal of Hochman’s approach as “dishonest,” Britt headed onto an elevator while repeating party talking points about “energy dominance.”

“We’ve got to be not only energy independent but energy dominant,” Britt said as the elevator door closed. “We do it better than anybody.”

The phrases “energy independence” and “energy dominance” are commonly used by politicians who prefer policies that advantage extractive energy companies while avoiding dealing with the ongoing climate crisis, according to experts who’ve studied the politics of energy and fossil fuels.

A section on Britt’s website about her “energy and environment” policy priorities does not mention climate change, instead focusing on her opposition to policies like President Biden’s moratorium on new liquid natural gas projects and her co-sponsoring of legislation that would prohibit the president or his cabinet members from blocking energy or mineral leasing and permitting on federal lands. 

Britt also praised the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2023 decision not to limit boat speeds in certain parts of the Gulf of Mexico to protect the Rice’s Whale, one of the most endangered whales in the world, according to experts, with fewer than 100 individuals remaining. 

Vessel strikes, ocean noise, energy exploration and development are the leading threats to the species, according to the agency. NOAA had initially considered designating “critical habitat” for the endangered whale, which would have offered additional protections from threats like boat strikes. Britt attacked the proposal as “nonsensical” and warned of dire economic consequences that would follow. 

“The lack of justification for this proposal is glaring, and the inevitable, devastating consequences it would have on Alabama’s economy and the Gulf fishing industry are undeniable,” Britt said in a letter to NOAA’s administrator. 

Britt has also remained silent on devastation caused by coal mining activity conducted by Crimson Oak Grove Resources in western Jefferson County, just outside of Birmingham. Residents there have faced catastrophic home damage from underground longwall mining and have been left in fear following a home explosion atop the mine that killed a grandfather and seriously injured his grandson. Alabamians living in the area have said they’ve reached out to Britt’s office without success, and the senator’s then-communications director ignored questions from an Inside Climate News reporter about the situation earlier this month. 

“It’s just sidestepping the honest reality that the climate crisis is getting worse, and it’s being caused by the fossil fuel industry. That’s the real problem.”

Hochman said Britt’s record speaks for itself. What’s dishonest, the organizer said, is Britt’s claim that she’s representing all her constituents when her policies reflect support for “people who are polluting the air and water.” 

Calling her dishonest is a cop-out, Hochman said. 

“You’re a member of Congress; I’m asking you a question, and you’re focusing on my means of getting there?” Hochman asked in an interview with Inside Climate News. “I’ve asked so many politicians for selfies and then asked them a question. It’s a normal thing to do. If anybody’s being dishonest here, it’s her—with what she says she’s going to do for the country.”

Hochman said she felt that Britt’s swift shift to “energy dominance” talking points was a standard Republican response to criticism on climate policies. 

“It’s just sidestepping the honest reality that the climate crisis is getting worse, and it’s being caused by the fossil fuel industry. That’s the real problem,” she said. “People are dying every day from extreme heat, from asthma, from poisoned water, and she’s taking money from the people who are making that happen and making it worse.”

Hochman, who’s originally from Boston, said she became familiar with Britt from her response to Biden’s State of the Union Address. Britt’s speech was widely critiqued for tone and accuracy, including a prominent spoof by Saturday Night Live.

Hochman said she also associated Alabama with the Miller Electric Generating Plant in western Jefferson County, which regularly claims the dubious title of the nation’s worst greenhouse gas polluter. 

Data for 2022 released by the EPA shows that the Jefferson County plant emitted nearly 22 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollutants that year, including over 21 million tons of carbon dioxide, 62,000 CO2-equivalent metric tons of methane and 108,000 CO2-equivalent metric tons of nitrous oxide. 

For comparison, Miller emits around 1.5 million more metric tons of carbon dioxide per year than the entire country of Guatemala, according to global data.

That type of greenhouse gas pollution impacts her, too, Hochman noted.

“It’s affecting everybody,” she said. “So why can’t Britt really confront the climate crisis? To me, it seems clear that it’s about money. It’s about her contributions.”

Denae Avila-Dickson, a Texan who works in communications for the Sunrise Movement, said in an interview that she believes that Britt’s reaction is emblematic of an unwillingness to listen to and engage with young voters about their views on issues like the climate crisis. 

“She should have recognized that young people don’t want to just take selfies,” she said. “That’s not all we’re asking for. We’re asking for climate actions that protect us from climate disasters. It’s not dishonest to call out our elected officials.”

Often, corporate decisions impacting Alabama citizens don’t add up to simply being “energy independent,” residents of the mining community in western Jefferson County have said. 

“It would be one thing if we were using it for energy here,” Benny Walden, an Oak Grove resident told Inside Climate News earlier this year. “But it’s not. It’s almost all being shipped out of the country.” 

Walden’s father was killed inside Oak Grove mine when he was just 10 years old. Now, decades later, his home is at risk of being destroyed by mining activity. He’s said he’s reached out to public officials again and again with no response.

Government records and public statements by the mine’s parent company support Walden’s claim, noting that much of the coal scraped from beneath residents’ homes in Alabama and elsewhere is shipped outside the U.S. to places like Europe, Asia and South America. 

“And our homes are destroyed for it,” Walden said. “It’s sick.”