August 18, 2008

Oil and Coal Have Spent $427 Million To Influence Campaign in 2008

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The Public Campaign Action Fund has figured out how much the oil and coal industries have spent to influence the public debate through their 527s, 501(c)4s, PACs, lobbying expenditures, paid advertising, and campaign contributions. Their final number? An astonishing $427.2 million dollars in the first half of 2008. You can see how the numbers break down here, but take a look at this chart for a summary. It is possible these industries will spend close to or more than $1 billion to influence the election and to protect their interests.

Amount in Millions Coal/Electric Utilities Oil/Gas Total
Political Contributions $16.5 $20.9 $37.4
Lobbying Expenditures 73.7 55.3 129.0
Paid Media 7.4 201.2 208.6
Other Political Spending 40.0 12.2 52.2
Total $137.6 $289.6 $427.2

Of the oil and gas industries’ political contributions, 25% was given to Democrats and 75% was given to Republicans. For coal, it was 31% for Democrats and 69% for Republicans. Electric utilities were more even, with 48% going to Dems and 52% going to Republicans.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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