Oil industry more spending on lobbying

HOUSTON — Oil and gas companies have accelerated their spending on lobbying faster than any other industry, training their gusher of profits on Washington to fight new taxes on drilling and slow efforts to move the nation off fossil fuels.

The industry spent $44.5 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies in the first three months of this year, on pace to shatter last year’s record. Only the drug industry spent more.

Last year’s total of $129 million was up 73 percent from two years earlier. That’s faster than any other major industry, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

From the late 1990s through the first half of this decade, the oil industry spent roughly $50 million to $60 million a year on lobbying. It ramped up lobbying in 2006, when Democrats retook Congress, and further as President Barack Obama took office.

"They’re under attack, they’re ramping up their operations and they’ve got money to spend,” said Tyson Slocum, who runs the energy program at watchdog group Public Citizen. "They’re in much better position than other industries to draw upon financial resources for their lobbying effort.”

Billions of dollars in oil profits in recent years have made the industry a target for new and higher taxes on exploration and drilling. Oil companies and refiners are also trying to blunt the effect of costly climate change legislation pushed by Obama.

While most oil and gas executives acknowledge the nation needs cleaner energy, they say lawmakers are misguided about how quickly it can happen. They warn that taxes and tighter rules on exploration could cripple the industry before new technology is developed.


Lobby sees success
Sean Brodrick, a natural resources analyst at Weiss Research Inc., cited the coal lobby as an example of one that’s already had some success with the Obama administration.
He noted a futuristic coal-burning power plant in Illinois that languished under the Bush administration has now found favor with Obama Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

The Energy Department will commit more than $1 billion to the project under an agreement announced last week.

"I think (the Obama administration) will make some accommodations,” Brodrick said. "They may speak really tough before these laws are enacted, but you watch, I bet the energy companies will have some effect in actually shaping how these laws finally come out of the big sausage factory.”



by the associated press