The fossil fuel industry keeps an eye out for lawmakers that might pass legislation that is unfriendly to their business model when pressured by the public. Those are the representatives they do not support when election time comes around, and this is the crux of climate change politics.
A new study found that oil and gas companies donated $84 million to US legislators in 2018, with 88% of that going to the conservative party. The research – which analyzed 28 years of data from 1990 to 2018 – also found that there was a statistical correlation between an increase in anti-environment votes and an increase in contributions. For example, in 1990, 63% of oil and gas money went to Republicans, but by 2018 (once the industry noticed their best bet to avoid environmental protection laws was with that party), that number rose to 88%.
The researchers wrote:
We find that evidence consistently supports the investment hypothesis: The more a given member of Congress votes against environmental policies, the more contributions they receive from oil and gas companies supporting their re-election.
The League of Conservation records the votes on legislation given by every member of Congress. The study found that as the LCV score of a member declines the amount of money that Congressman receives from fossil fuel companies goes up. A low score means the member’s voting record is less favorable to environmental concerns. The peer-reviewed study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Matthew Goldberg, the co-author of the study and a postdoctoral associate with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, told The Guardian:
Legislators proved that they’re willing to vote against the environment consistently and then they’re rewarded later. I suppose this is more of an advantage for oil and gas companies because they need to ensure that people are going to vote in their interest.
Goldberg also told CNN:
There’s little evidence that oil and gas companies use campaign contributions to influence the voting behavior of members of Congress. Rather, they invest in legislators that have a proven anti-environment voting record.
The research shows that, on average, a decrease in the LCV score in one election predicted at least $1,700 in donations from the corporations to a member of Congress in the next cycle. The 2016 elections saw an even higher increase of campaign contributions: for every 10% of votes contra the environment in 2014, the member of Congress would receive an extra $5,400 in campaign donations.
The politics surrounding the topic of climate change are highly concerning, and evidence shows that voting against the environment, as a politician, is profitable and resembles bribery. The consequences of an overheating planet plague us all. So far, the 2020 election cycle has raked in $40 million in campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Every vote counts, so Goldberg encourages people to keep these findings into consideration when choosing who to put in office.
