BP Latest Giant to Ditch ALEC

The name plate and logo are seen at the the British Petroleum headquarters in central London, Thursday, June, 10, 2010. Shares in BP PLC are falling sharply at the start of trading in London after a huge sell-off in ... The name plate and logo are seen at the the British Petroleum headquarters in central London, Thursday, June, 10, 2010. Shares in BP PLC are falling sharply at the start of trading in London after a huge sell-off in New York amid fears about the rising costs facing the company over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The stock is trading down at 9.3 percent at 355 pence ($5.18) in early trade. Investors are worried about the payment of the company's planned dividends and its ability to pay for the disaster as U.S. political pressure increases for greater compensation. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) MORE LESS

BP, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, is leaving the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in yet another blow to the conservative advocacy coalition.

National Journal reported BP’s departure on Monday. It’s the latest major company to have left the organization.

“We continually assess our engagement with policy and advocacy organizations, and based on our most recent assessment, we have determined that we can effectively pursue policy matters of current interest to BP without renewing our membership in ALEC,” a BP spokesman told National Journal.

ALEC blamed BP’s decision on “economic challenges” in the business sector, according to National Journal.

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Yelp, eBay and Facebook have all departed ALEC as well. Google chairman Eric Schmidt accused ALEC of “literally lying” about climate change when his company left.