"Energy Companies Opened Wallets Wide to Sway House Climate Bill"

"Electric utilities boosted lobbying in the second quarter of 2009, narrowing the gap with oil and gas companies that had dominated spending on persuasion by a wide margin earlier this year.

An early analysis of a portion of lobbying disclosures shows utilities racked up at least $12 million in expenses, while companies that produce oil and natural gas spent at least $13.9 million. ...

The spending reveals how heavily certain industries worked to influence House climate legislation, analysts said. Utilities, especially those that use coal, succeeded in winning help in that bill. With the debate now shifted to the Senate, analysts expect heavy persuasion efforts to continue."

Anne C. Mulkern reports for Greenwire in the New York Times July 23, 2009.