by Leonard Doyle, excerpted from Nov. 16, 2007, The Independent (UK)

An American power company with close financial links to President George Bush has been named as one of the world’s top producers of global warming pollution.

The enormous carbon footprint of Southern Company – among the largest financiers of Republican Party politicians – has raised eyebrows. Southern’s employees handed George Bush $217,047 to help him get elected, and they and the company have contributed an extraordinary $6.2 million to Republican campaigns since 1990.

A single Southern Company plant in Juliette, Ga., already emits more carbon dioxide annually than Brazil’s entire power sector. The company is America’s second dirtiest utility polluter and sixth worst in the world.

... Politicians from both parties fear the influence of Southern, which spends huge sums on lobbying and political campaigns. It has defeated numerous attempts to impose controls on the amounts of pollution it pumps out.

The link between massive cash contributions by America’s power companies and political arm-twisting in Washington has rarely been put into such sharp relief. Environmentalists have long suspected that President Bush’s dogged refusal to sign up to international agreements to control global warming was linked to campaign contributions.

Yesterday’s report has finally identified the impact these power companies are having on global warming. Southern, which earned $14.4 billion in revenues in 2006, is using its influence to block the introduction of wind, solar, biomass and other renewable energy sources on the grounds that it would eat into its profits.

Haley Barbour, one of the main lobbyists for Southern when President Bush took office, played a crucial role in persuading him to back away from his original campaign promise to reduce CO2 emissions when he first ran for president in 2000. Mr. Barbour is a former chairman of the Republican Party.