Gas-industry contributions to Pa. politicians are down

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The gas-drilling industry gave less money to Pennsylvania politicians in 2011, but it spent more on lobbyists.

Politicians received $560,800 from the industry in 2011, down from $1.6 million in 2010, Pennsylvania Common Cause said in a news release Thursday. But gas industry lobbying expendtitures rose from $4 million to $5 million during the same period.

Shell Oil Co. gave Gov. Tom Corbett $50,000 in February 2011 — just a few months before the company announced that it was considering building a huge new petrochemical plant in the region. Exxon Mobil also gave Corbett $10,000 in December.

The data also showed that at the beginning of 2011, Shell began spending about $92,000 each quarter on lobbyists.

In June, the Republican governor and GOP and Democratic lawmakers joined forces to give Shell the largest package of tax incentives in state history. Union leaders backed the plan, too. The incentives could be worth more than $1.7 billion over 25 years if Shell builds a new petrochemical plant north of Pittsburgh, but a final decision is more than a year away.

“The amount that Shell committed to lobbying efforts is relatively small,” said Christopher Borick, a Muhlenberg College political science professor. But he added that recent polls done by the school show 54 percent of the public have concerns that Corbett is too close to the gas industry.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, is by far the biggest lobbying force.

After spending about $400,000 in each quarter of 2011, the figure jumped to $927,000 in the first quarter of this year.