Renewable Advocates Battle Oil Industry over Energy Policy
by Christopher Doering (Gannett Washington Bureau/Daily Comet) Big oil and natural-gas companies may vastly outspend and outman the renewable fuels industry on Capitol Hill but the general gridlock in Washington gives advocates of wind, ethanol and other new-age sources the upper hand in the growing battle to overhaul the country’s energy policy.
…That hasn’t stopped the oil industry from aggressively wooing Congressional lawmakers on hot-button issues, including lobbying against renewable fuels.
Last year alone ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and the American Petroleum Institute, the trade group that represents these energy giants, used $66.2 million for lobbying efforts, nearly 44 percent of the $150 million total spent by the oil and gas industry, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Collectively, nearly 800 lobbyists worked on behalf of oil and gas interests in 2011. READ MORE
