Oil and gas companies invest in legislators that vote against the environment.

Goldberg, Matthew H; Marlon, Jennifer R; Wang, Xinran; van der Linden, Sander; Leiserowitz, Anthony · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2020

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Abstract

Do campaign contributions from oil and gas companies influence legislators to vote against the environment, or do these companies invest in legislators that have a proven antienvironmental voting record? Using 28 y of campaign contribution data, we find that evidence consistently supports the investment hypothesis: The more a given member of Congress votes against environmental policies, the more contributions they receive from oil and gas companies supporting their reelection.