Chafees Own as Much as $100K in BP Stock
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Lincoln Chafee has a long record of championing environmental causes, but a GoLocalProv investigation has found that his wife holds stock in BP, the company responsible for one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
The financial holdings clash with Chafee’s public image as an environmentalist.
Politicians and others like the Chafees who set up blind trusts can make sure their money is invested in companies that reflect their values, even if they can’t pick and choose the individual companies that are in their portfolios, according to two professors in the Finance Department at Bryant University who spoke with GoLocalProv.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“I know that you can tell them you would like ‘socially responsible’ companies in your entities,” said Professor Cary Collins. His colleague in the Finance Department, Peter Nigro, said some investors ask that their portfolios exclude “sin stocks” in companies that make money off activities like gambling.
Chafee an ‘Environmental Hero’
Chafee has made protecting the environment a centerpiece of his career—and won accolades for his efforts. In his 2006 Senate run, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope called him an “environmental hero” for his opposition to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and weakening the Endangered Species Act. In his current run for governor, Chafee has been endorsed by Clean Water Action and the Defenders of Wildlife.
Campaign Manager J.R. Pagliarini denied that the BP stock undermines his credibility as an environmental advocate. “I think it’s far-fetched to say that he’s influenced in any way, shape, or form by any of his personal assets,” Pagliarini said.
The BP stock the Chafees have is worth as much as $100,000, according to his 2006 Senate financial disclosure form. (See below documents.)
The stock is in a blind trust for Chafee’s wife, Stephanie Chafee. Pagliarini said the Chafees don’t have control over where the money in the blind trust is invested. “The Senator has no control of what stocks are in that portfolio or what stocks are moved into that portfolio,” Pagliarini said. “So he’s handcuffed.”
Investments in Other Environmentally Unfriendly Companies
Pagliarini said the BP stock was one among many stocks held in a “diverse” portfolio.
Other stocks in that portfolio include the Dow Chemical Company, which the EPA has held partially responsible for nearly one hundred Superfund toxic waste sites, and the Newmont Mining Corporation, which has been criticized for the environmental devastation its mines have caused in Indonesia and Ghana.
Stephanie Chafee also has stock in a second oil company, the Exxon Mobil Corporation—the company responsible for the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off the coast of Alaska. That spill poured as much as 750,000 barrels of crude oil into the waters of Alaska and cost Exxon $4.8 billion in punitive damages.
The BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast, by many measures, is even worse. It dumped as much as 4.4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, polluted one hundred miles of shoreline, and dealt a $4.3 million-blow to the local economy.
Chafee’s Father Did Not Have Oil Stock
Chafee’s father, the late Senator John Chafee, was one of the most prominent environmentalists in the U.S. Congress. He served as the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, was an architect of the 1980 Superfund program, and authored the Clean Water Act of 1986. He also was a key supporter of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, passed in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Unlike his son, the elder Chafee refused to have stock in oil companies.
The campaign for Democrat Frank Caprio, which has been sparring with Chafee in recent weeks over campaign finance contributions, declined to comment.
Excerpt from 2006 Senate Financial Disclosure Report
Excerpt from 2009 Finance Statement
Below is an excerpt from the financial statement Chafee had to file with the state Ethics Commission in his run for governor. The statement, which was filed this past summer, reveals his financial information for 2009. The Chafees still hold the BP stock, according to Pagliarini.
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