FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2020
Contact: Kathryn Phillips--916-893-8494 (mobile)
Tracking the Dirty Dollars Project Sheds Light on Oil & Gas Contributions to Legislators
SACRAMENTO—Sierra Club California launched a project this week to shed light on oil and gas contributions to legislators and other state-level elected officials.
The project, called Tracking the Dirty Dollars, uses and sorts through existing public databases to identify who receives contributions from oil and gas companies and their allies through direct campaign contributions, independent expenditure campaigns, and gifts.
The project then presents the information in a clear format that makes it much easier for the general public and environmental activists to see what their elected leaders have received.
For the first installment of the project released this week, Sierra Club California staff focused on 30 Democratic legislators and the governor. Most of the selected legislators have mediocre to poor records on voting for bills that would reduce dependence on or pollution from oil and gas. Future installments--planned for after quarterly campaign finance reporting deadlines--will expand the list of legislators whose campaign finances are tracked.
The project found that more than $2 million in campaign and other contributions were provided by oil and gas companies, Political Action Committees to which the companies contribute, or allied organizations to the legislators and the governor during 2019 and through November 20, 2020. The top receivers of the dirty dollars were assembly members Jim Cooper (Elk Grove), Tom Daly (Anaheim) and Patrick O’Donnell (Long Beach), each of whom received more than $100,000 from oil and gas interests and allied organizations during the period covered.
More information about the Tracking the Dirty Dollars project is included in a blog e-mailed to Sierra Club members and supporters around the state. A cover report discussing the first installment, and the data sheets comprising the first installment, are available on Sierra Club California’s website.
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory advocacy arm of the 13 Sierra Club chapters in California, representing more than 500,000 members and supporters statewide.