CHART: Big Oil Backers Of Keystone XL Pipeline Gave Big To Senate GOP Allies

On Monday, 43 Senate Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced legislation to circumvent the Obama administration and approve the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. A ThinkProgress Green analysis reveals at least 35 of the 44 senators backing the proposal have received special interest political action committee contributions from the biggest backers of the pipeline since the start of the 2010 cycle.

$644,400 went to 35 of those senators who have endorsed this measure. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Rob Portman (R-OH) received the most, with $43,500 each. Manchin received $2,500 and the rest went to Republicans.

The most active companies and trade associations lobbying for the pipeline over the last three months were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ConocoPhillips, the Business Roundtable, Shell Oil, ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, Deere & Company, TransCanada Pipelines, and Devon Energy.

Of those, the PACs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, Deere & Company, and Devon Energy all made contributions to federal candidates over the past three years.

Here are their totals:

Senator	Amount
Kelly Ayotte(R-NH)	$23,000
John Barrasso (R-WY)	$20,500
Roy Blunt (R-MO)	$39,000
John Boozman (R-AR)	$5,000
Richard Burr (R-NC)	$43,500
Dan Coats (R-IN)	$24,500
Tom Coburn (R-OK)	$22,000
Bob Corker (R-TN)	$10,000
John Cornyn (R-TX)	$10,000
Mike Crapo (R-ID)	$28,500
Jim DeMint (R-SC)	$22,000
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)	$27,000
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)	$9,000
Dean Heller (R-NV)	$1,000
John Hoeven (R-ND)	$35,000
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)	$1,000
Jim Inhofe (R-OK)	$1,000
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)	$20,500
Ron Johnson (R-WI)	$13,500
Mike Lee (R-UT)	$10,000
Dick Lugar (R-IN)	$7,000
Joe Manchin (D-WV)	$2,500
John McCain (R-AZ)	$10,000
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)	$10,000
Jerry Moran (R-KS)	$16,000
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)	$40,000
Rand Paul (R-KY)	$10,000
Rob Portman (R-OH)	$43,500
Marco Rubio (R-FL)	$23,000
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)	$1,000
Richard Shelby (R-AL)	$18,000
John Thune (R-SD)	$29,000
Patrick Toomey (R-PA)	$25,500
David Vitter (R-LA)	$31,000
Roger Wicker (R-MS)	$11,500
Total	$644,400

Methodology: January 30, 2012 search of Center for Responsive PoliticsPAC data for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ConocoPhillips, the Business Roundtable, Shell Oil, ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, Deere & Company, TransCanada Pipelines, and Devon Energy. For active PACs for those companies and trade associations, tallied all PAC to campaign committee payments over the 2010 and 2012 cycles to U.S. Senators supporting the Keystone XL legislation.