GOP gets boost from energy industry

Energy companies are putting their weight behind Republicans in the hopes that the party will take control of the Senate and push back against the administration’s climate plan.

According to Bloomberg News, electric utility political action groups have funneled 63 percent of their cash into Republican campaigns this election cycle.

{mosads}It signals a partisan switch from four years prior, when they contributed 55 percent to Democrats and 43 percent to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Bloomberg reports.

And oil and gas company political committees favor Republicans even more, putting 83 percent of their contributions behind the party’s Senate and House candidates.

That’s 11 points higher than in 2010, according to the data.

The shift from electric companies may be more telling, however, as vulnerable Democrats seek to distance themselves from an ambitious White House agenda on climate change that aims to reign in pollution from fossil fuels.

If Democrats lose Senate races in Louisiana, North Carolina, Alaska, Arkansas and Virginia, the blame might fall on the administration’s environmental policies.