Inferring Patterns of Influence on Climate and Energy Policy in the US State of Virginia (2015-2023)

As in comparable jurisdictions, alongside lobbying and charitable giving, interest group donations play big a part in the climate and energy policy process in the US state of Virginia. We trace the trajectory of 815 nominally progressive and regressive climate and energy bills through the VA legislature over the 2015-2023 period, identifying four committees as veto-points. Legislators associated with the veto-points (bill sponsors, committee chairs, committee members) are then identified, and linked to donations from utility and philanthropic (oligarchic) actors to generate donor - legislator (elite) communities. The most prolific donor community centers on the state’s quasi-monopoly utility, Dominion Energy, which appears to use a reward and retain strategy for legislators, especially committee chairs, while also opportunistically fine-tuning donations according to partisan control of legislative chambers and the governorship. Meanwhile, environmental NGOs and philanthropic advocacy groups form donor-communities that fine-tune donations to progressive bill sponsors, an apparently less effective approach. While the sheer volume of donations from Dominion suggests a high-volume and intensity donation strategy, notably in the lead-up to the Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020, we also note that philanthropic donations oriented to ending Dominion’s quasi-monopoly exert a growing influence on the climate and energy policy process in the state.

与其他同类司法管辖区一样，在美国弗吉尼亚州，除游说活动与慈善捐赠外，利益集团捐款在当地气候与能源政策制定进程中同样占据举足轻重的地位。本研究追踪了2015至2023年间弗吉尼亚州议会审议的815份名义上分为进步派与保守派的气候与能源法案，识别出4个具备否决权的关键委员会。随后，研究对与这些否决权委员会相关的立法者——包括法案提案人、委员会主席及委员会成员——进行甄别，并将其与公用事业及慈善（寡头）行为主体的捐赠数据进行关联，以此构建捐赠者-立法者（精英）社群。规模最大的捐赠社群围绕该州准垄断公用事业企业Dominion能源公司（Dominion Energy）形成，该企业似乎对立法者（尤其是委员会主席）采取奖励与留任策略，同时还会根据立法两院与州长的党派控制权，灵活调整捐赠方案。与此同时，环保非政府组织与慈善倡导团体组成的捐赠社群，则将捐赠定向分配给进步派法案提案人，这一策略的实施成效似乎相对有限。尽管Dominion能源公司的捐款总量庞大，彰显出其高规模、高强度的捐赠策略——尤以2020年《弗吉尼亚清洁经济法案》（Virginia Clean Economy Act）出台前夕为甚——但研究同时注意到，旨在终结Dominion能源公司准垄断地位的慈善捐赠，正日益对该州气候与能源政策制定过程产生影响。