Who, then, are the "men behind Komen's curtain"?
Many environmental activists are familiar with the "greenwashing" concept. Fewer, though, are familiar with "pinkwashing," best documented by the book Pink Ribbons, Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy by Samantha King. It's a concept fully on display with regards to the ties that bind Komen to the shale gas industry.
Komen's Ties to the Halliburton Loophole
Behind curtain one is Jane Abraham, named to the Komen Board of Directors in May 2012. She's the "wife of former [U.S.] Senator and U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham," according to Komen's website.
Upon leaving his posts as a Senator and Energy Secretary under the George W. Bush Administration, Spencer fled straight for the Board of Directors of Occidential Petroleum, where he still sits on the Board today. Occidential has fracking operations set up in both California- and North Dakota-based shale basins.
He also is one of the Principals of The Abraham Group, LLC, a consulting firm which, among other things, advises oil and gas industry clientele, headed by his wife Jane.
Spencer Abraham was the Bush Administration's Secretary of Energy when Vice President Dick Cheney oversaw the Energy Task Force. The Task Force was composed of Cheney, as well as the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Transportation and Energy. It was instrumental infacilitating private meetings between oil and gas executives and upper-level Bush Administration Cabinet members.
In the fracking sphere, one of the crucial outcomes of the Task Force's meetings was the "Halliburton Loophole." This clause located within the Energy Policy Act of 2005allows chemicals found in "fracking fluid" to be deemed a "trade secret," exempting the shale gas industries from both the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act when they perform hydraulic fracturing for shale gas.
Other Komen Oil and Gas Industry Ties that Bind
Komen also maintains what it calls its "Million Dollar Council," which receives funding from Koch Industries' subsidiary, Georgia-Pacific, as well as General Electric (GE). Koch Industries and its many subsidiaries have a major financial stake in shale gas drilling. So too does GE.
Georgia-Pacific "produces resins used for chemicals used to prop open micro-fractures, an important process for fracking to occur," explained Lee Fang of the Republic Report. Other Koch subsidiaries — including Koch Pipeline, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Supply & Trading and Koch Chemical Technology Group — all have a fiscal future intricately tied to shale gas production, according to Fang's reporting.
GE, meanwhile, also describes itself as a "massive player" in shale gas production. As I wrote for AlterNet in September 2011:
GE created a device for recycling the water used during the controversial and toxic hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process. Furthermore, it maintains natural gas fueled power plants, and manufactures natural gas-powered turbines, having sold more than $1 billion worth of them in 2011 in the United States, according to Reuters. GE also recently made a deal with Russia to sell between $10 and $15 billion worth of turbines.
The Komen "Million Dollar Council" list also includes a key investor backing oil and gas industry interests, Bank of America, a corporation which boasts on its website of its investments in commodities like coal, oil and natural gas.
Furthermore one of the members of Komen's Board of Directors, John D. Raffaelli, has spent many years working as an oil and gas industry lobbyist. Described by Komen "as one of the most effective lobbyists in Washington," Raffaelli served as a hired gun for the American Petroleum Institute, Atlas Energy (which has since beensold to Chevron), General Electric and Edison Electric respectively between 2008-present.
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