Earth Equity News

Climate Bill Drives Energy Companies to Spend More. By Jim Snyder, The Hill, January 31, 2010. "Energy companies significantly increased their lobbying expenditures last year as Congress considered controversial climate change legislation that promised to rearrange the nation's energy mix. The Edison Electric Institute, which represents for-profit electric utilities, spent around $10.5 million in 2009 to lobby Congress. That was more than a 40% increase from the $7.5 million the group spent in 2008... The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's main lobby, increased its advocacy budget to $7.3 million over the $4.8 million it had spent in 2008... Meanwhile, America's Natural Gas Alliance, which represents 28 natural gas exploration and production companies, paid K Street $1.6 million in 2009. The alliance spent that much in just the last half of the year in hopes of reshaping the House-passed climate bill that natural gas companies contend is too generous to the coal industry. It wasn't just fossil fuel groups spending more to influence lawmakers... The American Wind Energy Association, which lobbied aggressively in support of an economic stimulus package that included $80 billion in clean energy funding, spent more than $3.3 million to lobby Congress and the administration. In 2008, the group spent just under $1.7 million on lobbying. The Solar Energy Industries Association also spent more, although the increase was less dramatic. The trade group spent $1.6 million on lobbying, compared with the $1.4 million it spent in 2008."