RE: Activists and the public

[Rich Puchalsky <rpuchalsky@att.net>]

James Cooper writes:
"I wasn't really thinking of Greenpeace at the time. I was thinking more of groups like Environmental Defense, Sierra Club and National Resources Defense Council. Anyway, only a small fraction of SOCMA's budget goes toward lobbying. We only have 4 lobbyists, and since we are the most heavily regulated industry, we can't even cover all of the issues we'd like."

Budgets are hard to compare, because most industry groups do not release their budgets.  But there are publicly reported quantities that we can compare.  Political contributions, for instance.  According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the chemical industry contributed $11 million to politicians in 2000, while environmental groups contributed $2 million.  

A lot of that $2 million came from groups primarily concerned with ecosystems and wildlife, and who therefore don't directly oppose the chemical industry.  Since environmental groups actually have a wide range of industries whose policies they oppose, the true disparity in funds is much worse than $11 to $2 -- I haven't included the power industry, lumber, etc.