Research

This factsheet shines a light on the millions in campaign contributions made to our elected officials over the past 10 years and the billions in fossil fuel subsidies the industry gets in return.

A new report by Oil Change International and the Sierra Club, Polluting Our Democracy and Our Environment: Dirty Fuels Money in Politics, demonstrates the enormous amount of campaign finance contributions pouring into Congress by the fossil fuel industry, a problem that is only getting worse. With the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, super-wealthy donors can now funnel unlimited amounts of outside money into political campaigns and elections. As a result of this ruling, outside spending increased by an enormous11,761 percentbetween the 2008 and 2012 elections.

This Congress is on track to be the dirtiest ever. In the current cycle (since January 2011) dirty energy companies have spent at least $43.5 million on influencing federal elections in America.

Members of Congress Who Take More Money from Big Oil Vote More Often for Big Oil at the Expense of the Public Interest

This report, based on the End Oil Aid database, quantifies the magnitude of subsidies from governments going to the oil and gas industry internationally via international financial institutions, often in the name of poverty alleviation.

Control of Iraq's future oil wealth is being handed to multinational oil companies through long-term contracts that will cost Iraq hundreds of billions of dollars.