Oil company cuts ties with ALEC

International oil and natural gas company Occidental Petroleum is severing its ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the latest in an exodus from the conservative group.

In a letter to an investment management company, Walden Asset Management, Occidental said it would no longer be a member of ALEC or support the group.

{mosads}”There are no plans to continue Occidental’s membership in, or make further payments to ALEC,” Occidental said in a letter sent to the management firm on Friday.

Occidental is the latest in a string of companies to drop support of ALEC, the majority of which were technology giants.

Last week, Google said it cut ties because of ALEC’s climate change skepticism, saying the group was “literally lying” about global warming.

While Occidental doesn’t cite a specific example for its departure from ALEC, it notes that being tied to the group meant the company would be “presumed to share the positions” taken by ALEC on climate change and regulations put forward by the administration.

In the letter, which was provided to The Hill, Occidental’s associate general counsel Linda Peterson also said, “we do not support all of the positions taken by organization to which we belong.”

Peterson said it would encourage people to reference the “social responsibility” section on Occidental’s website, which details the company’s commitments to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions while expanding operations.

In a response to earlier departures, ALEC said Google was acting on “misinformation” and that it does not deny the science behind climate change.

ALEC said it supports legislation aimed at addressing the “scientific and economic aspects of the issue of climate change.”

Facebook has also indicated it plans to drop support of ALEC, and Yelp said it will let its membership with the group expire.

National Journal first reported on Occidental’s departure and the letter to the investment management firm.