Federal and state governments play an
important role in the long-term direction of
the energy industry. El Paso is committed to
participating in the political process and believes
that encouraging the development of sound
public policy is an important part of that commitment. We strive to promote public policies that
are in the best interest of our industry and our company’s stakeholders, including shareholders,
employees, and the communities in which we operate. El Paso’s Code of Conduct regulates our
interactions with public officials. In addition, we have a policy to ensure corporate compliance with
politically related laws and regulations, which is available at:
www.elpaso.com/investor/PoliticalAccountability.pdf.
Our political participation includes informing public officials about our businesses and the impact
public policy decisions would have on our operations; participating in industry trade associations to
assist in developing industry-wide policy positions that shape laws and regulations impacting our
businesses; and supporting candidates for public office. We also support employee participation in
the public policy process on a voluntary basis, encouraging them to exercise their individual rights
of citizenship through their vote, advocating the development of sound public policy, and supporting
candidates for public office of their own personal selection. We also retain lobbyists who represent the company at the state and federal government level in the
United States.
Political Action Committee
The El Paso Corporation Political Action Committee (PAC) gives our employees a voice in the
political process. Participation is voluntary. Through the PAC, we make political contributions when
permitted by law and in accordance with established guidelines. The El Paso Corporation PAC
made a total of $77,5004 in political contributions to federal, state, and local candidates in 2010.5
El Paso also supports our employees’ engagement in citizenship and provides them access to
nonpartisan educational information on the political process, as well as voting resources, through
the Your Government section of the company’s intranet site.
COMMITMENT TO POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY
case studies in sustainability
2010 El Paso Corporate Sustainability Report