Big oil spent nearly $11 million in the third quarter on lobbying to kill bills that included targeting climate change and air and water protections. Monday was the last day that employers could file lobbying numbers, so these numbers could still be updated.
While lawmakers were still able to pass groundbreaking legislation, they were stymied by oil company lobbying in their efforts to cut petroleum use in half. Bills to protect groundwater from fracking waste, demand transparency from oil companies manipulating the price and supply of oil were also waylaid. The balance of power in the Capitol of the state that has pioneered so much environmental progress still appears to lay with the Chevrons, the Shells, and the Exxons.
