Direct Lobbying Transparency
Overall Assessment | Comment | Score |
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Comprehensive | Walmart provides an extensive and concrete picture of its climate-policy lobbying. It identifies numerous specific policies it has worked on, ranging from federal vehicle standards (“submitted comments to the EPA and NHTSA on the proposed Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles”) and major legislation (“engaged directly with policy makers to support the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act,” the “Build Back Better legislation,” and the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act”) to state-level renewable-energy programs such as the “Georgia Power C&I REDI,” “Florida Power & Light SolarTogether,” and “PNM Solar Direct” tariffs, as well as advocacy at FERC for broader wholesale-market access. The company also discloses how it lobbies, detailing direct meetings (“Walmart policy teams and subject matter experts met directly with lawmakers and their staff”), formal submissions (comment letters to the SEC, EPA and NHTSA), testimony before Congress, participation in “state utility commission-ordered working groups,” and indirect action through trade bodies such as the Business Roundtable, Clean Energy Buyers Association, Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance and Advanced Energy Management Alliance. Targets are named explicitly, including the U.S. Congress, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, several state commissions, and foreign governments such as Thailand. Finally, Walmart is clear about the outcomes it seeks: it pressed for “a strong Phase 2 rule that drives innovation in truck technologies,” advocates “policies that allow market-based solutions like PPAs” and the expansion of wholesale energy markets, supports “tripling renewable electricity capacity by 2030,” backs carbon-pricing and technology-neutral decarbonisation measures, and wants regenerative agriculture included in the Farm Bill. This level of specificity across policies, mechanisms and desired results demonstrates comprehensive transparency in the company’s climate-related lobbying. | 4 |