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Jun 4, 2009

Climate change lobby grows by over 300 percent in five years

Imagine this, if you will. Imagine you are a very important person with a very important decision to make. Now imagine four different people trying to persuade you to make different decisions. Now imagine you are in a room with 530 or so other important people trying to make the same decision as you and that each of those people also have four people trying to persuade them with conflicting sets of facts.

Congratulations! You're now a United States Congressman being bombarded by the climate change lobby!


From 2003 to 2008, the number of lobbyists actively working on climate change legislation has increased by more than 300 percent to a total of 2,340, enough for each member of Congress (House and Senate combined) to have 4 personal climate lobbyists. In 2008 alone, climate change lobby expenses were above $90 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Climate change has become a powerful force in U.S. politics, and the wider world outside the Beltway is starting to take notice.
 
Truly a triumph of lobbying. Environmental groups will need to step up their game in order to compete in this league.

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