2009-12-04

Energy Interests Pouring Money into Campaign Coffers of Fence-Sitting Senators. By Christa Marshall, ClimateWire, November 30, 2009. "A group of U.S. senators who could determine the fate of a climate bill received more than $20 million in campaign contributions over the past two decades from energy interests with a direct stake in pending legislation. Electric utilities poured at least $4.2 million to the 27 lawmakers, who are considered 'fence sitters' on a global warming bill, according to an E&E analysis [PDF, 2 pp] of potential votes. The oil and gas sector pumped $5.8 million to the group over the past 20 years. Transportation companies and their associated unions gave some $6 million combined, while forestry companies and agricultural interests doled out more than $2 million. Environmental groups donated $315,000 over the same time frame... Many of the on-the-fence politicians hail from states burning and extracting a lot of coal or containing a large number of energy-intensive and transportation-related industries. These senators are in a tough political spot, since those sectors employ hundreds of thousands of workers but also constitute a majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

"West Virginia, Maine, Arkansas, Ohio, Alaska, Indiana, North Dakota, Michigan and Montana are heavily represented in the fence-sitting crowd, with both U.S. senators from each of those states belonging to the group... Mining appears in the top sectors contributing to three of the lawmakers from big coal states, Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio), but not the others. Similarly, producers of crops like rice and sugar gave more than $1 million to six of the fence sitters from big farm states, but largely ignored the rest of the 27. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) received more than $600,000 in campaign donations from the sector since her assumption of office in 1999... Campaign money is flowing at increased rates from many companies with a strong interest in the fate of a climate bill to six of the 27 senators up for re-election in 2010. Those politicians include Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Lincoln, as well as Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.)."

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