Big Oil Gave $23.5 Million To Senators Who Voted To Protect Oil Subsidies

[unhappycamper]

http://www.republicreport.org/2012/big-oil-gave-23-5-million-to-senators-who-voted-to-protect-oil-subsidies/





Big Oil Gave $23.5 Million To Senators Who Voted To Protect Oil Subsidies
Suzanne Merkelson 4.1.2012 at 9:00 AM

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed to eliminate $24 billion in taxpayer subsidies for the five richest oil companies. Lining up neatly by parties, the 57-41 vote had all the Republicans, except for the two senators from Maine, joined by four Democrats, filibuster Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-NJ) bill to cut subsidies to Big Oil and pay for investments in wind power and energy efficiency.

Not only was the split along party lines, the 47 senators who voted against the bill have received $23,582,500 in career contributions from the oil and gas industries, compared to $5,873,600 for the 51 senators who voted for the bill, according to a ThinkProgress analysis.

Meanwhile, Maplight reports that interest groups who opposed the bill (including major oil and gas producers, manufacturing groups, and chambers of commerce) gave on average 14 times more to the senators who voted no ($264,051) as they did to the senators who supported the bill ($18,561).

~snip~

This is just one way Big Oil gets what it wants from Congress. It also spent $148 million on lobbying last year.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. As prostitutes go, Big Oil is definitely getting their money's worth

Best government (for them) that money can buy.

[yt75]

2. oil, peakoil

About oil, please do not hesitate to sign (and forward) a call to French presidential candidates "mobilizing society in the face of peak oil" originally published March 22nd in lemonde.fr.

Signed by :
Pierre René Bauquis - Former Director of Strategy and Planning at Total
Jean-Marie Bourdaire - Former Director of Economic Studies at Total, former Director of Studies at World Energy Council (WEC)
Yves Cochet - European Deputy, former Environment Minister.
Jean-Marc Jancovici – Consultant, energy and CO2 issues, ASPO France
Jean Laherrère - Former Chief of Exploration Technologies at Total
Yves Mathieu - Former Hydrocarbon Reserves Project Manager at the Institut Francais du Petrole (French Petroleum Institute)

Translation published on Energy Bulletin :
http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2012-03-29/mobilizing-society-face-peak-oil-call-french-presidential-candidates

And on a dedicated site (with petition/join the call functionality) :
http://tribune-pic-petrolier.org/mobilizing-society-in-the-face-of-peak-oil/
Any language welcomed for the message!

[xchrom]

3. Du rec. Nt