As climate change legislation moved higher up on the Congressional agenda last year, so too did the numbers of lobbyists sent to Capitol Hill to influence the debate.
In 2008, some 770 companies and industries groups spent more than $90 million on lobbyists to promote their positions, according to a report released this week by the Center for Public Integrity.
Their sheer numbers are noteworthy, topping about 2,340 -- a 300 percent increase over the past five years. There are now four climate change lobbyists for every member of Congress. Fifteen percent of all D.C. lobbyists devoted some of their efforts to climate change policy during a year when the Warner Lieberman climate change bill, with its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 71 percent below 2005 levels by 2050, failed to muster enough Congressional votes.
The ranks of lobbyists include big names, such as former House Majority Leader Dick Gephart (D-Missouri) and former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Livingston (R-Louisiana), who are both included in a database that can be searched by sector, lobbyist, time frame and company.
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