So this is a cool new resource. One with a definite opinion about the role of money in politics.

Follow the Oil Money is a new website that tracks which oil companies are pumping their money into politics, who is receiving it, and how it correlates to key climate, energy and other votes. You can check out the connections via relationship graphs, or tables of information.

The folks behind the site are Oil Change International and the winners of Sunlight’s 2007 Mashup contest, Greg Michalec and Skye Bender-deMoll. The data are from the Center for Responsive Politics, GovTrack.us, the Sunlight Labs API and the Federal Election Commission. They write:

A few weeks ago, the House passed a bill that would fund clean energy and end some oil subsidies. Members who voted against this bill received on average more than 5 times more oil money than those who supported it. Overall, we found that members of Congress who voted for Big Oil took almost four times more oil money than those who voted in the public interest.

Follow the Oil Money isn’t just a cool new tool. It presents some striking evidence to the potential connection between dollars and votes.