House Climate Hearing Dripping in Oil Money

The House Energy and Power Subcommittee will be holding a major hearing on climate change today, with both EPA Administrator McCarthy and Energy Secretary Moniz scheduled to testify. Usually this would be great; we need more action on climate in Congress – but today’s discussion has the notable distinction of being bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry. Instead of bringing top officials together to discuss how we can move forward, Subcommittee Chairman Whitfield is stoking the fires for a witch hunt.

The Republican controlled subcommittee is packed with climate skeptics and overflowing with dirty energy money. A full 14 subcommittee members are climate-science deniers and that’s no accident. Big Oil, Gas, and Coal have made sure they have plenty of allies, pouring millions into subcommittee members’ pockets. According to our campaign finance tracking tool, members of the subcommittee have received a staggering $12,104,804 during their careers – with roughly a third coming during the last congressional cycle alone. Here’s how the numbers break down:

The stakes are getting higher and the fossil fuel industry knows it, spending obscene amounts of money to keep control of our democracy. Climate impacts aren’t just some far off concern, they’re here and now. Whether it’s floods in Colorado, wildfires in California, droughts in the midwest, or super-storms on the east coast, climate change is becoming impossible to deny. Unfortunately for Chairman Whitfield and his industry friends, the American public realizes what’s happening and no amount of dirty energy money can change that.