FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11, 2021
Contact: Kathryn Phillips--916-893-8494 (mobile)
February Update to Tracking the Dirty Dollars Project Oil & Gas Adds Contributions for Newly Elected Legislators and Republicans
SACRAMENTO—The February 2021 Update to Sierra Club California’s Tracking the Dirty Dollars Project reveals that Republican state legislators, including newly elected state legislators, all received campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry during the 2019-2020 reporting period.
At the same time, the update shows that nearly all of the Democratic legislators serving for their first time in their new house received no oil and gas industry contributions--with one exception.
Newly elected Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua (AD-13, Stockton) benefited from more than $2.5 million that oil and gas and its allies spent on independent expenditure campaigns for him or against his opponent during the 2020 election.
Sierra Club California launched the Tracking the Dirty Dollars Project in November 2020 to shed light on oil and gas contributions to legislators and other state-level elected officials. The project 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.
The first installment of the project focused on 28 Democratic legislators who usually have difficulty voting for bills that would reduce dependence on or pollution from oil and gas activities. This latest installment added in all legislative Republicans and the members of each house newly elected in November. A May installment will add in the rest of the Democratic legislators. that and the governor.
A cover report discussing the February installment and the data sheets comprising the first and second installment, are available on Sierra Club California’s website. More information about the project is included in a November blog e-mailed to Sierra Club members and supporters around the state.
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.