Corporate Capture of Congress in Carbon Politics : Evidence from Roll Call Votes

How special interests shape legislative decisions is a fundamental question in political economy. In this paper, we examine the influence of corporations on climate change legislation, which plays an important role in addressing the negative externalities associated with greenhouse gas emissions. Using a comprehensive sample of votes on contested climate bills in the US House of Representatives and Senate, we find that politicians with high carbon dependency, i.e., those whose campaigns received more contributions from carbon intensive firms, are more likely to cast anti-climate votes. This relation is stronger when politicians face greater electoral pressure. Exploiting narrowly defeated focal politicians as plausibly exogenous shocks to their elected peers' carbon dependency, we find that the relation is likely causal. We further find evidence that carbon intensive firms benefit from their connected politicians casting anti-climate votes