Congressman Denny Rehberg Accepted $13,000 from Big Oil in First Six Months of 2011

Rehberg Voted to Protect Taxpayer Handouts & Accepted Campaign Cash During Six Months

Montana – As one of Big Oil’s most loyal defenders, Congressman Denny Rehberg raked in plenty of campaign cash from the nation’s most profitable oil companies even while he voted to protect taxpayer handouts to those same companies, according to Public Campaign Action Fund analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC)*.   Cong. Rehberg received $13,000 from the top U.S. oil companies in the first six months of 2011. During this same timeframe he continued to support billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to oil companies (5/11/11).

“Montanans should be outraged that Congressman Rehberg continues to accept these dirty campaign contributions while protecting billions in taxpayer handouts to the most profitable oil companies,” said Theresa Keaveny, Executive Director of Montana Conservation Voters.    One of the contributors was ExxonMobil’s Political Action Committee, which has so far given $10,000 to Rehberg  in 2011.  

The oil giant’s pipeline burst near Laurel on July 1^st and spewed out 42,000 some gallons of oil pollution into the Yellowstone River.   On July 13^th Rehberg voted for dirty water legislation (H.R. 2018) in the U.S. House, which undermines protections of our nation’s water ways.   

Members of Congress who supported these unnecessary handouts received a total of $1.2 million from the political action committees (PACs) of the top U.S. oil companies in the first six months of 2011, according to Public Campaign Action Fund analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Additionally, a whopping 94% of oil PAC money recipients in the first 6 months of 2011 voted to keep these wasteful subsidies.

The vote included in this analysis is Roll Call # 313 [5/11/11]. Companies’ PACs included in the analysis are BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Koch Industries.

* http://campaignmoney.org/press-room/2011/07/21/house-subsidies-supporters-receive-over-12-million