Energy sector groups spent a total of $300 million (£183 million) in the third quarter of 2009 and were heading for a record spending year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks lobbyist spending.
From January to September, some of the biggest energy lobby spenders included oil and gas ($120.7 million), electric utilities ($108 million) and alternative energy which showed a 40 per cent rise over last year to $23 million.
That makes the energy sector the third largest in terms of spending on lawmaker lobbying, campaign contributions, labor unions, business and special interest groups after health and business.
The spending is smaller than the health care industry lobby spending of $400M, it is still substantial. This is not quite complete either. This does not appear to include sponsorship of various events, programs, research/think tanks, and plain old marketing.
Additional information from Wikipedia:
In the 2006 election cycle, oil and gas companies alone contributed over $19 million to political campaigns. 82% of that money went to Republican candidates, while the remaining 18% went to Democrats. In 2004, oil and gas companies contributed over $25 million to political campaigns, donating 80% of that money to Republicans. In the 2000 elections, over $34 million was contributed, with 78% of that money going to Republicans. Electric utilities also heavily favor Republicans; their contributions have recently ranged between $15-20 million.[3][4] From 2003-2006, the Energy Lobby also contributed $58.3 million to state-level campaigns. By comparison, alternative energy interests contributed around half a million dollars in the same time period. [5]
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