Keystone Pipeline being revived by Congress

February 1, 2012 - On Monday, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), along with 44 co-sponsors, introduced a bill ( S 2041) that would grant Congress the authority to approve the Keystone pipeline. President Obama has already said no to granting approval for the construction project, an outcome accelerated by language in the pay-roll tax law that required Obama to make a decision by late February. Construction of the pipeline that would span from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is supported by the American Petroleum Institute, the Association of Oil Pipe Lines, the Consumer Energy Alliance, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, and the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association.
Below is an analysis conducted by MapLight of campaign contributions to senators from individuals and organizations connected to the Oil & Gas industry, made between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2011.

• Out of the 36 senators who have the Oil & Gas Industry amongst their top 10 contributing industry groups, only five senators did not co-sponsor the bill.
• Nineteen of the top 20 recipients of campaign contributions connected to the Oil & Gas industry co-sponsored the bill, the lone exception being Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who received a total of $424,700 from Oil & Gas interests.

Rank of Oil & Gas Industry as a Contributor to Lawmaker	Lawmaker	Bill Co-sponsor	Total (7/1/2005 – 6/30/2011)
1	Sen. James Inhofe [R, OK]	Yes	$472,000
	Sen. John Hoeven [R, ND]	Yes	$251,789
2	Sen. John Cornyn [R, TX]	Yes	$1,000,725
	Sen. David Vitter [R, LA]	Yes	$536,000
	Sen. Roger Wicker [R, MS]	Yes	$362,500
	Sen. John Barrasso [R, WY]	Yes	$347,650
	Sen. Kay Hutchison [R, TX]	Yes	$336,386
	Sen. Thomas Coburn [R, OK]	Yes	$184,650
	Sen. James Risch [R, ID]	Yes	$83,550
3	Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA]	No	$424,700
	Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK]	Yes	$314,526
4	Sen. Mark Begich [D, AK]	No	$145,405
	Sen. Michael Enzi [R, WY]	Yes	$125,300
5	Sen. Pat Roberts [R, KS]	Yes	$229,200
	Sen. John Boozman [R, AR]	Yes	$117,602
	Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D, NM]	No	$98,920
6	Sen. Roy Blunt [R, MO]	Yes	$529,850
	Sen. Jerry Moran [R, KS]	Yes	$215,051
	Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN]	Yes	$156,050
	Sen. Daniel Coats [R, IN]	Yes	$147,183
7	Sen. Kelly Ayotte [R, NH]	Yes	$127,783
	Sen. Joe Manchin [D, WV]	Yes	$122,700
	Sen. Thad Cochran [R, MS]	Yes	$81,550
	Sen. Mike Lee [R, UT]	Yes	$45,050
8	Sen. Patrick Toomey [R, PA]	Yes	$263,516
	Sen. Mark Pryor [D, AR]	No	$144,650
9	Sen. Mitch McConnell [R, KY]	Yes	$528,500
	Sen. Jeff Sessions [R, AL]	Yes	$104,700
	Sen. Rand Paul [R, KY]	Yes	$102,940
10	Sen. Bob Corker [R, TN]	Yes	$339,250
	Sen. Robert Portman [R, OH]	Yes	$295,758
	Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC]	Yes	$224,600
	Sen. Marco Rubio [R, FL]	Yes	$200,750
	Sen. Ben Nelson [D, NE]	No	$193,550
	Sen. John Thune [R, SD]	Yes	$176,990
	Sen. Jim DeMint [R, SC]	Yes	$134,073

Click here to download a spreadsheet with contributions from Oil & Gas to all current members of the Senate (July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2011) and the House of Representatives (July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2011). The spreadsheet also includes contributions connected to Environmental protection interest groups.
METHODOLOGY: MapLight analysis of campaign contributions to current members of the U.S. Senate from organizations and individuals connected to the Oil & Gas industry, July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2011. Campaign contributions data source: OpenSecrets.org
A link to this data release can be found here.
MapLight is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that reveals money's influence on politics.

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