Senators Who Rejected Human-Caused Climate Change Received 7 Times as Much Money from Oil and Gas In
January 2015, those Senators voting against a climate change bill had taken in seven times more money from energy companies than had those favoring it.
"Senators Who Rejected Human-Caused Climate Change Received 7 Times as Much Money from Oil and Gas Interests"
"On January 21, 2015, the Senate voted on a number of amendments to S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act. While construction of the Keystone XL pipeline was rejected last month, several amendments to S. 1 address opinions about climate change more generally. One such amendment, S. Amdt. 58, expresses the sense of Congress that “human activity significantly contributes to climate change.” The amendment, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, failed by a vote of 50-49. According to an analysis by MapLight:
"Senators voting ‘NO’ on the amendment received, on average, 7.1 times as much money ($259,314) from oil and gas interests compared to those voting ‘YES’ ($36,759) between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2015.
"Twelve senators received more than $300,000 from oil and gas interests between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2015. All voted 'NO' on the amendment."
Miriam Marks, "Senators Who Rejected Human-Caused Climate Change Received 7 Times as Much Money from Oil and Gas Interests," Maplight, December 1, 2015, accessed January 15, 2016, http://maplight.org/content/senators-who-rejected-human-caused-climate-change-received-7-times-as-much-money-from-oil-an