Oil and Coal Industries Spending Two Million Dollars a Day to Shape Political Debate
A report from the Public Campaign Action Fund on 2008 spending by oil and coal industries finds that they are on track to spend about one billion dollars this year on lobbying, political contributions, and advertising. The full report amasses the following expenditures:
| 2008 SPENDING BY OIL AND COAL INTERESTS, BY CATEGORY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Amounts in millions | Coal/Electric Utilities | Oil/Gas | Total |
| Political Contributions | $16.5 | $20.9 | $37.4 |
| Lobbying Expenditures | 73.7 | 55.3 | 129.0 |
| Paid Media | 7.4 | 201.2 | 208.6 |
| Other Political Spending | 40.0 | 12.2 | 52.2 |
| Total | $137.6 | $289.6 | $427.2 |
Lobbying expenditures and political contributions come from Center for Responsive Politics data compiled from public disclosures. Paid media figures are from TNS Media Intelligence, the industry standard for tracking media spending.
The “other political spending” comes from the coal industry group Americans for Balanced Energy Choices / American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ABEC/ACCCE) and from Newt Gingrich’s 527 corporation, American Solutions for Winning the Future (ASWF).
It does not include other industry and political groups that have not disclosed their spending:
- Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth
- American Council for Capital Formation
- American Energy Alliance
- American Enterprise Institute
- Americans for Prosperity
- American Future Fund
- Business & Media Institute
- Coalition for Affordable American Energy
- Competitive Enterprise Institute
- FreedomWorks
- Heartland Institute
- Institute for Energy Research
- National Association of Manufacturers
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce
National Conference Call with Sen. Jim DeMint on Cap and Trade, Energy Issues
On Wednesday evening, July 9, Americans for Prosperity will host a national Tele Town Hall meeting with U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina—one of the top free-market leaders in America.
As everybody knows, gas prices are out of control, yet some in Congress continue to push legislation like a $1.2 trillion global warming carbon tax hike that will only make matters worse. At the same time, Congress is blocking legislation that would allow us to increase energy production and supplies here at home.
During Wednesday’s Telephone Town Hall meeting, Senator DeMint and AFP President Tim Phillips will discuss with participants how Al Gore and his environmental extremist policies are driving up the price of gasoline, increasing home energy costs, and killing jobs.
They’ll be discussing what is at stake, and what we can all do to help Senator DeMint fight the good fight in Washington. Callers will also have the opportunity to ask Senator DeMint a question.
The Telephone Town Hall meeting begin on Wednesday beginning at 7:10 p.m. Eastern time. That’s 6:10 in the Central time zone, 5:10 Mountain time and 4:10 p.m. on the West Coast.
To join, you can simply dial in at 7:10 p.m. Eastern time by calling toll-free to 1-877-229-8493 and entering the PIN code 13896.