According to the latest report, the fossil fuel industry is spending a lot of money on the 2024 UD presidential campaign. Their main objective is on super PACs, aiming at assisting Republicans maintain control of the House and regain the Senate.
Furthermore, Federal Election Commission reports revealed the truth. According to this report, most oil and gas companies, such as Chevron and ConocoPhillips, are spending more than $20 million of money in two key super PACs. One is the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF). They spent this money during the third quarter of 2024.
This huge amount of spending highlights the fossil fuel industry’s determination to impact political decisions.
Their main objective is to shape politics that support their interests and secure a favorable atmosphere in Congress. This trend raises concern about the money’s impact on democracy. It also creates donuts about the true decisions of the political landscape.
The fossil fuel industry has spent approximately more than $54.2 million in money on two super PACs during the 2023-2024 election cycle. A lot of money is spent on ads before Election Day to make efforts to win control of Congress.
Why do fossil fuel industries want to change election results?
This points out how fossil fuel industries want to change political decisions according to their favoritism. The concern is increasing as the 2024 elections approach. At the start of this year, one of the candidates, Donal Trump, asked oil companies to assist in raising $1 billion for his campaign. In exchange, he made promises with oil companies to give relaxations on the climate rules that were set by the current president of the United States, Joe Biden. This scenario raises questions about how donations from the fossil fuel industry can affect political decisions and the environment. It also suggests a possible conflict between business interests and efforts to protect the planet.
One of the groups named as watchdog has requested the FBI and Departemnt of Jusice to investigate the Donald Trump action. His effort to influence the oil industries may be considered a possible criminal bribery. Congressional Democrats are also looking into what they describe as Trump’s “quid pro quo solicitations.”
According to OpenSecrets, in this election cycle, the oil and gas companies have spent a huge amount of money, $152 million. They also reported that more than 88% of this money was going to Republican candidates.
One of the billionaires and founders of Continental Resources, Harold Hamm, supports Trump’s action and raises funds from oil industry donors.
So far, the oil sector has donated over $21 million to Trump’s campaign and his political action committees (PACs). Additionally, lawyers from big oil companies are already drafting executive orders for Trump to sign if he wins against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris next month.
According to recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, a small number of affluent people have been the main source of Donald Trump’s campaign’s noteworthy fundraising surge. These include Kelcy Warren, the chairman of Energy Transfer Partners, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla. Concerns over the role of money in politics are raised by this development.
The CEO of the anti-corruption organization RepresentUs, Joshua Graham Lynn, offered his thoughts on the matter, saying that the most recent filings demonstrate how a few billionaires are spending enormous sums of money to influence election outcomes. He mentioned the 2010 Native Americans United ruling from the Supreme Court, which permitted people and businesses to hand over an unlimited amount of money to political elections. American politics have been significantly impacted by this decision, which has exacerbated polarization and conflict.
Lynn faces that the political system is distorted and that a significant contributing factor to the issue is the increasing power of money. He thinks it is crucial to eradicate this financial influence and deal with the corruption that frequently goes along with it in order to bring balance and justice back to elections. Without these adjustments, the political system’s honor will keep deteriorating, making significant reforms challenging.
