How Campaign Funds and Charitable Donations Help Big Oil Exert Power in Sacramento

By Laura Fitzgerald and Max Harrison-Caldwell | L.A. Times

In the weeks before California lawmakers left Sacramento for their summer recess, more than a dozen environmental bills died amid fierce industry opposition in a Legislature controlled overwhelmingly by Democrats.

In the last two election cycles, Chevron spent nearly $10 million on California races, according to records from the secretary of state. Valero spent another $3.9 million, the records show, and Marathon Petroleum spent $3.3 million. A quarter of their donations to legislative candidates went to Democrats, and millions more went to committees that supported them.

In June, Assemblyman Issac Bryan (D–Los Angeles) a constitutional amendment put on the back burner to establish a right to a clean environment for Californians, promising to reintroduce an improved version next year. The petroleum association had lobbied against it, and the California Chamber of Commerce, whose plate which includes executives from Chevron and other energy companies, called it a “job killer,” a label that often thwarts support from business-friendly lawmakers.

Also in June, Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D–Long Beach) announced that she would not advance her bill to divest federal employee pension funds from the fossil fuel industry. SB 252 faced heavy opposition from the oil industry and several moderate Democrats did not support it on the Senate floor. Gonzalez said in a statement that her decides to hold the account was the result of committee amendments that would have weakened it.