Number of top 100 Bush Administration officials who were either affiliated with or had professional/economic interests in the energy industry: 51. Upper range of the total estimated amount invested in the energy sector cumulatively by these top 100 officials: $144.6 million.
May 1, 2002
• Number of top 100 Bush Administration officials who were either affiliated with or had professional/economic interests in the energy industry: 51
• Upper range of the total estimated amount invested in the energy sector cumulatively by these top 100 officials: $144.6 million
• Number of Bush campaign “Pioneers” (people who raised at least $100,000 each) who work in the energy sector: 28
• Number of energy industry executives and lobbyists who met with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham while the Bush energy plan was being drafted: 103
• Total federal campaign contributions given by these individuals and companies since 1999: $29.1 million
• Ratio of amount given to Republicans vs. Democrats: 3-1
• Campaign contributions given by environmental organizations since 1999: $2.1 million
• Number of meetings Energy Secretary Abraham held with environmental groups while the Bush energy plan was being drafted: 0
• Total campaign contributions by alternative energy producers, 1989-2002: $1.5 million
• Total campaign contributions by the rest of the energy sector (oil, gas, mining, utilities, waste management), 1989-2002: $251.4 million
• Amount the U.S. spends annually on solar power research: $90 million
• Amount the U.S. has spent over the last ten years subsidizing wind power: $55 million
• Cost of tax breaks for the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries, over the next ten years, doled out in the House energy plan: $27.6 billion
• Cost, per taxpayer, of those tax breaks: $145
• Cost, per taxpayer, of full public financing for all congressional elections: about $10 per year
For more information (and for detailed sourcing on these statistics) go to http://www.publicampaign.org/ouch097.htm
OUCH! is a regular e-mail bulletin on how private money in politics hurts average citizens, published by Public Campaign, a non-partisan, non-profit organization devoted to comprehensive campaign finance reform.
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Author: Public Campaign
News Service: OUCH! E-Mail Bulletin #97
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