Manchin Contributions from Oil & Gas Interests Dwarf Contributions from West Virginians

In his recent campaign finance report, Sen. Joe Manchin revealed that contributions from oil and gas interests – mostly in Texas – dwarfed the contributions he received from inside the state of West Virginia. Manchin is not involved in an active “campaign” at the moment and will not face reelection until 2024.

The report covered the period from July 1 through September 30 when Manchin was essentially blocking progress on the climate feature of the pending infrastructure legislation.  His opposition was responsible for the removal of the Clean Electricity Performance Program from the draft legislation.

Manchin attracted just over $1.6 million in contributions during the period, and over $400,000 of this came from individuals and political action committees affiliated with the oil and gas industry.

Gas in particular would have taken a big hit from the CEPP. Gas has been used increasingly to generate electric power in the last decade, but the CEPP would have cut it dramatically, toward a national goal of a decarbonized electricity sector by 2030.

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