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[quote]The American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas industry trade group, will start backing political candidates this year as the U.S. considers repealing $46 billion in subsidies and imposing pollution rules.

The group, whose members include Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., would make donations separately from industry executives and employees, who gave $27.6 million mostly to Republican candidates for Congress last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington. API has paid for advertising on policy issues and to lobby on legislation.

“This is adding one more tool to our toolkit,â€

There will come a time when the Trade Federation Oil Companies get their very own senators outright. Except that they barely need them any more.

To be fair to the oil industry, we all tire of middlemen who pocket transaction fees and don't actually do much. Directly funding candidates is just so much more efficient, perhaps even to the point where it could be justified in environmental terms. For example: CrudeCo. LLC wants Senator Smith to vote to allow the construction of a major refinery on top of a wetland wildlife preserve (and native burial ground). Before, they'd have organize a PAC, have private/public fundraising functions with lots of environmentally-questionable dishes like beluga caviar in order to create a forum where executives, major shareholders, and sundry bigwigs could coordinate individual donations.

Now they can just cut a check from general funds.

Overall, the net impact is overwhelmingly negative, but in the narrow sense of environmental impact from fundraising... Well, always look on the bright side. That's my motto, as those who know me IRL can attest.