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Sunday, February 15th, 2015

Oil & Gas Industry Gave 10 Times More Money to Senators Voting for Keystone XL

Author:     Daniel Stevens
Source:     Map Light
Publication Date:     Feb 10, 2015
 Link: Oil & Gas Industry Gave 10 Times More Money to Senators Voting for Keystone XL
Stephan:   Political Bribery, of course it isn't called that, has become so blatant in the United States that, as this report demonstrates, it is normal business practice. Nowhere is this clearer than with the Keystone XL pipeline. Noteworthy: It doesn't even rate as a blip on any version of television news. It's not that the information isn't out there, I found this on a research foundation's website, it's that they chose to ignore it. This is part of why we only rank 49th in the world in press freedom. The other thing to note is how cheaply these people can be bought. Consider this, from the report: "The petroleum refining & marketing industry gave, on average, 10 times more money to Senators voting ‘YES’ ($37,325) on S. 1  compared to Senators voting 'NO' ($3,635)." And remember the whole process of this vote cycle, giving to both "Yes" and "No" senators came to just $259,426. For the industry it's just a cost of doing business. We can roll these dice a number of times. If they can get past the veto threshold they will make 10s of billions of dollars.  It's a pretty straightforward calculation.

Late last month, the Senate passed S.1 (62-36), which allows TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline without a presidential permit or additional environmental review. The House is expected to vote on the bill tomorrow, and the White House said President Obama would veto the legislation.

  • The oil and gas industry gave, on average, 10 times more money to Senators voting ‘YES’ ($236,544) on S. 1  compared to Senators voting ‘NO’ ($22,882).

  • The oil and gas industry gave, on average, 3.2 times more money to Democratic Senators voting ‘YES’ ($73,279) on S.1 compared to Democratic and Independent Senators voting ‘NO’ ($22,882).

  • Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), the sponsor of the legislation, received $275,998 from the oil and gas industry.

Refining Industry Contributions

In particular, the petroleum refining & marketing industry stands to benefit from the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline. Some of the pipeline’s strongest supporters are the Gulf Coast refinery companies that have expanded their facilities and would benefit from Canadian oil that will flow through the pipeline.

  • The petroleum refining & marketing industry gave, on average, 10 times more money to Senators voting ‘YES’ ($37,325) on S. 1  compared to Senators voting ‘NO’ ($3,635).

  • The […]

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