House Supporters of Keystone XL Took $56 Million From Fossil Fuel Industry Before Pipeline Vote

In the latest proof that the oil industry has succeeded in buying Congress, research from Oil Change International today reveals the huge amount of cash spent by the fossil fuel industry on the Representatives that voted in favor of H.R. 3, the “Northern Route Approval Act”.  

H.R. 3 marks the seventh time the House of Representatives has voted on a bill that would circumvent the nation’s most important environmental laws, in order to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. But today’s vote saw fewer Representatives in favor of the resolution than past votes, showing waning interest in the issue among previous supporters.

Key findings from today’s vote include:

• Members of Congress supporting the pipeline took in a combined $56 million from fossil fuel interests, $36 million from oil industry interests alone;

• Members supporting the pipeline took an average of $233,774 from all fossil fuel interests, $150,604 from oil industry interests alone;

• Members opposing the pipeline took an average of $24,886 from all fossil fuel interests, and $24,886 from oil industry alone; and

• Supporters took 6 times more from the oil industry than opponents.

Stephen Kretzmann, Executive Director of Oil Change International, issued the following statement in response to the vote:

“Apparently, Big Oil knows it takes $200,000 to buy a vote in the House of Representatives. This may be small change for Big Oil, but our democracy is paying a huge price. Americans are fed up with this corrupt ‘votes for dollars’ system, and we demand better. It’s time for President Obama to put an end to this oil-fueled circus and reject the pipeline once and for all. Keystone XL would be bad for our economy, threaten the health of our families, and wreck the climate.”

The findings were derived from data taken from DirtyEnergyMoney.org, which compiles and further refines campaign contribution figures from the Center for Responsive Politics. These figures do not include total spending on direct lobbying by the industry.