Sacramento, CA. — New lobbying disclosures reveal the fossil fuel industry spent $7.1 million in the third quarter of 2025, from July 1 through September 30 – putting the industry on track to reach its second-highest influence spending year, just behind 2024’s $38 million spend, according to a press statement from the Last Chance Alliance (LCA).
The total lobbying and influence spending for Q1-Q3 in 2025 is over $25 million for the fossil fuel industry, the LCA wrote.
“While Californians continued to struggle with sky-high utility, grocery, housing costs and fears of spiking prices at the pump, gas and oil corporations poured millions opposing California’s transition to affordable clean energy and propping up oily lawmakers,” the LCA stated. “Lobbying disclosures make it clear that Big Oil is spending this money to keep Californians dependent on fossil fuels instead of saving on clean, abundant, and cost efficient energy resources like solar and wind.”
“Records reveal that Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association were the top spenders among all fossil fuel corporations this quarter, followed by Phillips 66, a company at the center of the refinery closure debate,” the Alliance wrote.
The top five lobbying and influence spenders for Q3 can be seen in the table below, followed by the top spenders this year to date (YTD):
Top 5 lobbying and influence spenders in Q3:
Top 5 lobbying and influence spenders YTD (Q1-Q3)
Chevron has refused to respond to growing calls to boycott the company for its operation and co-ownership of Israeli-claimed fossil gas fields in the Mediterranean. At Chevron stations across the country, including in the Sacramento area and the San Francisco Bay Area, local human rights and environmental justice groups have been holding regular protests to highlight the company’s complicity in genocide, as well in environmental destruction and human rights violations across the globe.
“The 2025 legislative session saw a number of industry-friendly bills quietly advanced, backed by Big Oil’s deep pockets and political influence. SB 237 passed, opening up oil-rich Kern County to significant new drilling (as many as 2,000 new wells per year) under the guise of stabilizing fuel prices or preventing refinery closures,” the LCA continued.
“But mounting evidence shows that more drilling will not stabilize gas prices or prevent refinery closures. These developments show how the oil industry is leveraging its vast financial resources to shift policy in its favor while frontline communities—already burdened by air pollution, refinery hazards, and drilling impacts—are once again being asked to bear the cost of political decisions made in Sacramento,” the group stated.
“Big Oil has spent millions to rewrite the rules for its own gain — rules that would keep communities of color sick, polluted, and stuck paying the price for these giveaways,” said Faraz Rizvi, Campaign & Policy Manager, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) Action. “This is a test of political leadership in California. Lawmakers and the Governor have the opportunity to stand up to corporate influence and protect public health and the climate — or they can continue letting polluters call the shots. The choices made this session will define whether California truly leads the nation on climate and environmental justice, or whether it bends to Big Oil at the expense of frontline communities.”
The LCA noted that Big Oil “didn’t just push for giveaways, it also lobbied aggressively to stall the Polluters Pay Superfund Act, a critical bill that would hold fossil fuel companies financially accountable for climate damages in California. Instead of paying for the harm Big Oil caused, it is trying to shift costs onto everyday Californians, putting people’s lives and pocketbooks on the line.”
"Oil and gas corporations are spending millions of dollars to kill policies that would save Californians money," said Woody Hastings, Phase Out Polluting Fuels Program Director for The Climate Center. "This thinly-veiled ploy to protect their massive profits comes at the expense of our communities and climate. To truly address cost-of-living concerns, Governor Newsom and state lawmakers need to get serious about making polluters pay for the enormous costs of the climate crisis instead of leaving taxpayers to shoulder the burden."
"Given extreme damage caused by the oil industry — explosions endangering communities and workers, asthma and cancer-causing emissions, and fueling catastrophic climate change, it's perverse the industry spends millions killing environmental protections and making transportation more expensive," said Julia May, Senior Scientist at Communities for a Better Environment.
“With Governor Newsom entering his final year in office, California faces a defining moment. Climate leadership means standing up to Big Oil’s influence and addressing refinery closures and the cost of living without putting the burden on communities who are already paying the price for Big Oil’s pollution. Instead of striking backroom deals that cut costs for corporations and drive up the price of living, California should be strengthening protections for workers, ensuring corporate accountability, and investing in a just transition to clean, affordable energy,” the LCA concluded.
WSPA and the oil companies wield their power in 8 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups; (5) working in collaboration with media; (6) sponsoring awards ceremonies and dinners, including those for legislators and journalists; (7) contributing to non profit organizations; and (8) creating alliances with labor unions, mainly construction trades.
The deep influence that Big Oil wields over California officials was made apparent in 2009 when Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum was appointed Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast to oversee the creation of “marine protected areas” in the same region where her organization was lobbying for expanded offshore oil drilling. The oil industry lobbyist also served on the MLPA Initiative task forces for the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast.
