The Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources is currently holding a hearing into responses to the Gulf oil spill with Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar testifying. From 2005-2010, the oil and gas industry has contributed over $2.3 million to current members of the committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The current leading recipient of oil and gas campaign contributions on the committee is Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a strong proponent of offshore drilling. Landrieu has received $363,950 from the oil and gas industry over the last five years. In the wake of the Gulf oil spill that is washing ashore in her state, Landrieu firmly backed offshore drilling as key to America's energy future and vital to Louisiana's economy. She has also called for a compromise in raising the liability cap for companies involved in oil spills. The cap is currently set at $75 million.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., is second highest recipient of oil and gas money on the committee with $311,750. Lincoln has been a proponent of offshore drilling for some time, praising President Obama's March decision to expand offshore drilling. Since the Gulf oil spill happened, Lincoln has remained quiet on whether a moratorium should be reenacted and has focused on expressing concern over BP's practices.

The oil spill became an issue in the waning days of the primary campaign between Lincoln and Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. The League of Conservation Voters released an advertisement critical of Lincoln for the oil and gas contributions she has received and for her previous votes in favor of oil company tax breaks. Despite the advertising, Lincoln won what many consider a surprise victory over Halter last night.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is another top recipient on the committee with $225,326. Murkowski, whose state is reliant on the oil and gas industry, has been the biggest defender of the industry in the weeks since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sunk causing the massive Gulf oil spill. When the Senate sought to pass legislation raising the liability cap on oil companies, Murkowski blocked consideration of the bill to raise the cap from $75 million to $10 billion.

Below are oil and gas contributions to the full committee:

Oil & Gas Contributions to the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee (2005-2010)
Mary Landrieu	$363,950
Blanche Lincoln	$311,750
Bob Corker	$276,700
Lisa Murkowski (ranking member)	$225,326
John Barrasso	$167,500
Robert Bennett	$152,400
Richard Burr	$114,950
Byron Dorgan	$103,950
Jeff Sessions	$103,700
Jeff Bingaman (chairman)	$96,270
Evan Bayh	$77,200
Jim Risch	$76,050
Mark Udall	$67,510
Tim Johnson	$49,900
John McCain	$30,550
Robert Menendez	$21,700
Debbie Stabenow	$18,300
Ron Wyden	$16,864
Jeanne Shaheen	$14,800
Maria Cantwell	$10,300
Jim Bunning	$10,000
Sam Brownback	$4,600
Bernie Sanders	$3,100

Further dispatches from the Fifth Branch of government provided by the Washington Post:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is likely to postpone offering an amendment (pdf) next week that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, according to sources familiar with the matter.

...

The maneuvering comes as The Washington Post has confirmed that two Washington lobbyists, Jeffrey R. Holmstead and Roger R. Martella, Jr., helped craft the original amendment Murkowski planned to offer on the floor last fall. Both Holmstead, who heads the Environmental Strategies Group and Bracewell & Guiliani, and Martella, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, held senior posts at EPA under the Bush administration and represents multiple clients with an interest in climate legislation pending before Congress.

As reported in McClatchy, the lobbyists are very honest about the whole thing:

"This is what lawyers in Washington do every day of the week, is to take a look," Holmstead said. "It happens all the time on almost every piece of legislation. Before language is introduced, it is almost always shared with people on all sides of the issue."

All the more reason for even more transparency in the interaction of lobbyists with our elected officials.

Despite what seemed to be a bruising August for health care reform efforts, Congress still appears to be on a path to pass a bill this year. At the center of that effort is one Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. Snowe is perhaps that most moderate Republican remaining since Sen. Arlen Specter jumped ship to the Democrats. An analysis of her voting record this year shows that she is more likely to vote with the Democrats than to vote with her Republican peers. It comes as little wonder that she would be targeted as the deciding vote on health care reform.

Snowe has a 60% or higher voting agreement with every Democratic or Independent senator for the 111th Congress, while maintaining the same level of voting agreement with only twelve Republicans. The voting similarity between Snowe and Democrats is so similar that she holds a 70% or higher voting agreement with eleven Democratic senators. She holds this level of voting agreement with two Republicans.

The two Republicans that have a high level of voting agreement with Snowe are Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Sen. Collins, Maine's junior senator, is, like Snowe, often a reliable Republican vote for the Democrats. Collins also cast votes in support of the stimulus bill and other Democratic proposals including S-CHIP expansion and fair pay in the work place. Collins holds the highest voting agreement of any senator with Snowe at 86.92%. Murkowski's voting agreement with Snowe likely results from her support for fair pay in the work place (all Republican women in the Senate supported this legislation) and her support for most cloture votes.

The Democrats with the highest voting agreement with Snowe are also seen as key votes in the health care reform push. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Sen. Blanche Lincoln hold the two highest voting agreements with Snowe. Both are seen as key votes on any health reform bill and Nelson, in particular, has been a key player in all major legislation this year. Nelson was instrumental in passing the stimulus bill earlier this year and has recently echoed Snowe in her support for a public option trigger in the health care reform legislation. Lincoln is seen as one of the more conservative Democratic senators and faces a tough reelection campaign in one of the few states that trended away from the Democrats in the 2008 election. Her vote will be crucial to Democrats on health care reform and her high level of voting agreement with Snowe shows how crucial the Maine Republican's support for a bill may be.

The regularity with which Snowe votes with Democrats may be a bright spot for the majority as they push forward in the health reform debate. As some have determined that reform efforts have dwindled as the summer has come to an end, a careful look at the landscape shows that little has changed. All that matters is whether Snowe intends to use her position as the most Democratic friendly Republican to craft a bill she would support.

To see voting agreement with Sen. Olympia Snowe for all senators see this visualization.

The visualization was created using data from the New York Times' Congress API.