KEYSTONE XL IS reemerging as a central environmental issue after the State Department released a Draft Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) last Friday. Environmentalists are “fuming” and green groups “reeling” at the Department’s findings. According to The Hill:
Opponents of Keystone are furious at State’s environmental assessment of the project, which brushed aside one of their central arguments against it: namely, that it would exacerbate clime change by expanding the use of oil sands.
It can easily be expected that Keystone advocates and opponents alike will shower more money on the issue as a direct result of the report, the former feeding their momentum and the latter doing all in their power to starve it. Here are last year’s numbers, from CRP:
Oil and Gas Lobbying in 2012
Royal Dutch Shell $14,480,000 Exxon Mobil $12,970,000 Koch Industries $10,540,000 Chevron Corp $9,550,000 BP $8,590,000
Environmental Lobbying in 2012
Environmental Defense Fund $1,819,000
Nature Conservancy $1,550,000
BlueGreen Alliance $1,190,000
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund $888,933
Defenders of Wildlife $620,555
Tags: Center for Responsive Politics, environment, keystone xl, Lobbying, oil and gas industry, state department
