Friday, August 27, 2010

Mother Jones magazine gives this factoid from a new series by the Center for Responsive Politics: Environmental organizations spent a record $22 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies last year, but for every dollar the groups spent, the oil and gas industry spent eight dollars. Exxon alone spent more on lobbying than all the environmental groups. The Center’s five-day series reveals the insidious power of the oil and gas industry, with links and charts that spell out how we’re getting gassed. The chart on oil/gas campaign contributions fueling members of Congress shows Sen. Richard Burr way ahead of other NC members, in dollars and share of total fundraising; he’s taken over $500,000 in the past decade, about 10 times most other delegation members. Meanwhile, the Washington Post has an interactive map with a host of data about the U.S. House and U.S. Senate elections and the 37 states with gubernatorial elections. From those pages you can navigate to other aspects of the Post’s coverage of federal elections.