More Than 1,100 Companies, Groups Lobbying on Climate Bill

Posted

lobbyistsCompanies and advocacy groups are pushing harder than ever, and spending more than ever, to make their voices heard on climate change. In the 12 weeks leading up to the House of Representatives' vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, more than 460 new businesses and interest groups jumped into the fray.

That means that nearly 1,150 different organizations are known to be paying a lobbyist to influence climate legislation one way or another, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

Manufacturers are the leading sector paying lobbyists, with more than 200 companies and advocacy groups on the scene.

About 130 power companies and utilities are represented.

The Center for Public Integrity estimates that about $27 million was spent on such lobbying efforts from April to June alone.

Funding for the project to follow climate bill lobbying came from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Deer Creek Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Greenlight Capital Employees, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Open Society Institute, the Park Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Environment + Energy Leader