SACRAMENTO, California — Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association were California’s top two lobbyist spenders for the first quarter of the year, according to new data posted to the California secretary of state’s Cal-Access website.
The two organizations spent a combined $5.5 million trying to influence legislators and policymakers on a host of issues ranging from oil production to idle wells to refiner profits. They beat out the California Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Gas and Electric and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association for the leading spots among the top five.
The oil and gas organizations maintained their dominant spending positions as California accelerates its efforts to wean itself off fossil fuels while also trying to avoid gasoline price spikes.
The oil and gas industry has long influenced policy in Sacramento, where it has often warned lawmakers that tighter restrictions on extraction and production would drive up gas prices. Chevron and WSPA were also the top spenders last year and for the two years of the prior legislative session.
