American lobbyist Chris Horner is trying to convince major European companies to join a campaign against the Kyoto Protocol and any future such strategies to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases—but he’s not making much headway. Horner is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the right-wing Washington think tank known for arguing against the scientific consensus on global warming – and getting lots of funding from ExxonMobil.

He’s been talking to Ford Europe, German mega-utility RWE, and other E.U. firms in hopes of forming a coalition of companies, journalists, academics, and others to promote opposition to greenhouse-gas emissions caps—similar to an industry-backed anti-Kyoto effort in the U.S. during the late 1990s. “I don’t know why it’s surprising [I have lobbied European companies],” he told the Independent. “What is surprising to me is why it’s not working.” Both Ford Europe and RWE say they don’t back Horner’s plan.

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Photo: University of Texas