Billionaire investor Warren Buffett helped defeat a shareholder proposal on Thursday that could have pushed Occidental Petroleum to disclose more information about its lobbying efforts and trade group affiliations.
The lobbying proposal was one of several resolutions that Occidental Petroleum investors — including the Berkshire Hathaway CEO — decided at the oil company’s annual shareholder meeting.
Buffett likely will prove a pivotal “no” vote too when his own conglomerate considers several climate-related resolutions on Saturday when Berkshire Hathaway holds its annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Occidental proposal called for the company to produce an annual report disclosing its lobbying policies, payments and recipients. Such a report, supporters argued, would let investors know if Occidental was supporting groups or policies that aren’t in their long-term interest.
