Dirty Energy Money Seeps into Academia

July 25, 2012By Karen ShowalterBlog Post, Featured 1 Comment

Just as the oil and gas industry buys influence on Capitol Hill and in state capitals across the country, so too can it buy friends at major universities who support its agenda. A recent Bloomberg article highlights just how close, and influential, these ties can actually be. The article details how the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a consortium … Read More

Senators Supporting Inhofe’s Toxic Air Resolution Mired in Dirty Energy Money

June 20, 2012By Karen ShowalterBlog Post, Featured, Separate Oil and State

Senators voted down a resolution aimed at gutting the EPA’s Mercury and Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants this morning, 46-53. The 46 senators voting for this anti-science and anti-health resolution are awash in campaign contributions from the very companies that would have profited from its success. The average senator voting in favor of S.J. … Read More

Big Oil Donates over $500,000 to Congress in First Quarter of 2012

April 23, 2012By Karen ShowalterBlog Post, Featured, Separate Oil and State

The political action committees (PACs) of five of the biggest players in the oil and gas industry donated just over $500,000 to Congressional incumbents and candidates during the first quarter of 2012. Public Campaign has just released new analysis of data filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Some key findings: Exxon’s PAC was the biggest … Read More

New EPA Regs Address Fracking…in 2015

April 20, 2012By Karen ShowalterBlog Post, Featured

Some good news: The Environmental Protection Agency issued important rules to address air pollution from natural gas drilling, primarily fracking. Less good news: Bending to pressure from Big Oil, the measures won’t go into effect until 2015. The regulations will require that new wells capture certain smog-forming compounds, as well as methane, which is a … Read More