Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Campaign Contributions

Climate’s 17 Undecided Dems Got $2.3M From Transport & Electric Lobbies

The trouble with broad analysis pieces on campaign cash is that they often go for eye-popping numbers while obscuring uncomfortable political realities. For example, Greenwire reported this morning that the 27 senators who remain undecided on the chamber's pending climate bill took "more than $20 million ... over the past two decades from energy interests with a direct stake in pending legislation."

art.levin.gi.jpgSen. Carl Levin (D-MI) (Photo: CNN)

That $20 million figure is certainly impressive. But the story never defines its terminology: Should the private-equity giant Carlyle Group be classified as an "energy interest," given that it has stakes in 40 energy companies, or as an unrelated financial firm?

And given that Republicans, with the exception of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have shown little willingness to negotiate on pending climate legislation, why attach the "fence-sitter" label to senators such as John McCain (R-AZ) -- who days ago slammed the chamber's bill as "horrendous"?

But Greenwire's calculations are worth re-running because they smartly combine the transportation and electricity industries into one bloc. As electrified transport continues to command Washington's attention, automakers and power providers are finding their priorities increasingly in alignment -- and their lobbying goals coalescing around similar government support.

Of the 27 senators deemed climate fence-sitters by Greenwire, 17 are
Democrats. Using data from the non-partisan Center for Responsive
Politics (which only dates back 20 years), Streetsblog Capitol Hill ran
down the numbers on how much campaign money those 17 senators received
from the transportation and electricity interests that ranked among
their top 20 donors.

fence_piece.png

The final tally: $2.3 million, broken down by senator in the chart at right. The Senate Democrats who hauled in the most from the transport and electricity sectors were Michigan's Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, who maintain close ties to the domestic automakers in their home state, and Byron Dorgan (ND), whose top career donors included Northwest Airlines and the United Transportation Union.

As President Obama prepares to visit global climate talks in Copenhagen next month bearing a U.S. emissions reduction target that tracks the already-passed House legislation, all eyes will turn to the Senate's precarious political dynamics.

In the upper chamber, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (MT) -- among the 17 undecided Democrats on the climate bill -- is eyeing a January markup of the revenue allocations approved earlier this month by Barbara Boxer's (D-CA) environment committee.

Boxer's version of the legislation included hundreds of millions of dollars in annual grants for transit, land use planning, and other clean transport projects, but it's unclear whether Baucus is prepared to keep that funding alive.

On the electricity front, the Senate bill also includes a national renewables standard that aims to make transit systems -- as well as much-touted plug-in hybrid autos -- run on greener power. But some fence-sitting Democrats, such as Sen. Jim Webb (VA), are pushing for greater consideration of nuclear power as a renewable energy source.

With a lengthy climate debate poised to cement the Senate's self-created reputation as "the world's greatest deliberative body," the transportation decisions made by the 17 undecided Democrats are worth watching closely.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Tuesday’s Headlines Are a Sanctuary

The Trump administration's latest threat would withhold funding from many big-city transit agencies and transportation projects in some blue states with "sanctuary" policies on immigration.

February 4, 2025

This Automaker Is Attacking Sustainable Transportation Even More Than You Think

The world's largest automaker has been ramping up spending to put climate change deniers in Congress, and crushing support for all kinds of sustainable modes in the process.

February 4, 2025

Op-Ed: How Transit Agencies Are Tackling America’s Public Bathroom Crisis

Lack of public restrooms can be a barrier to using transit — and a devastating problem for those who have no choice but to ride. This company is trying to solve the problem.

February 4, 2025

Monday’s Headlines Question Sprawl

Do Americans really want to live in car-centric suburbs, or are they forced to because that's where most of the housing is built?

February 3, 2025

Why Trump’s DOT is Promising More Money to States With Higher Birth Rates

Supporting American families in the transportation realm doesn't mean giving low-population red states more money for highways — even if a new DOT memo suggests that's exactly what they'll do.

February 2, 2025
See all posts