$200 Million To Kill Climate Solutions

Oil company executives made it clear earlier this spring that they have no intention to spend their massive cash surpluses on production that would actually lower prices for consumers. Instead, they chose to prioritize stock buybacks and dividends. However, another spending priority for the oil and gas industry that tends to slip under the radar is the money they spend to influence members of Congress. 

Thanks to data provided by the Center For Responsive Politics, we know that the oil and gas industry has given at least $17.1 million in campaign contributions so far in the 2022 cycle, with more than 40% of that total coming in just the last quarter alone.

Even more money was spent on directly lobbying Congress this quarter. So far, the oil and gas industry has spent at least $63.5 million on lobbying efforts this year, after a whopping $119.4 in 2021.

All together, that’s $200 million spent since the start of 2021 by the oil and gas industry to support pro-fossil-fuel politicians and to derail President Biden’s climate agenda. As we head into earnings report season with oil companies expected to post record-shattering profits for the second quarter, it’s easy to see that Big Oil’s investments in influencing Congress are paying enormous dividends. 

Quarterly difference comes from subtracting the cycle-to-date total displayed by OpenSecrets.org on July 15, 2022 (as captured by the Internet Archive) from the cycle-to-date total displayed on July 26, 2022.