Contact: 

Blake Marquez, Blake@sunstonestrategies.org
Isa Flores-Jones, ifloresjones@apenaction.org

Lobbying disclosures show Chevron and Big Oil lobbying group WSPA remain top spenders in 2025 to influence lawmakers

Sacramento, CA. —  New lobbying disclosures reveal the fossil fuel industry spent $7.1 million in Q3 of 2025, from July 1 through September 30 – putting the industry on track to reach its second-highest influence spending year, just behind 2024’s $38 million spend. The total lobbying and influence spending for Q1-Q3 in 2025 is over $25 million for the fossil fuel industry.

While Californians continued to struggle with sky-high utility, grocery, housing costs and fears of spiking prices at the pump, gas and oil corporations poured millions opposing California’s transition to affordable clean energy and propping up oily lawmakers. Lobbying disclosures make it clear that Big Oil is spending this money to keep Californians dependent on fossil fuels instead of saving on clean, abundant, and cost efficient energy resources like solar and wind.

Records reveal that Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association were the top spenders among all fossil fuel corporations this quarter, followed by Phillips 66, a company at the center of the refinery closure debate. The top five lobbying and influence spenders for Q3 can be seen in the table below followed by the top spender this year to date (YTD):

Top 5 lobbying and influence spenders in Q3: 

Top 5 lobbying and influence spenders YTD (Q1-Q3)

The 2025 legislative session saw a number of industry-friendly bills quietly advanced, backed by Big Oil’s deep pockets and political influence. SB 237 passed, opening up oil-rich Kern County to significant new drilling (as many as 2,000 new wells per year) under the guise of stabilizing fuel prices or preventing refinery closures. 

But mounting evidence shows that more drilling will not stabilize gas prices or prevent refinery closures. These developments show how the oil industry is leveraging its vast financial resources to shift policy in its favor while frontline communities—already burdened by air pollution, refinery hazards, and drilling impacts—are once again being asked to bear the cost of political decisions made in Sacramento. 

“Big Oil has spent millions to rewrite the rules for its own gain — rules that would keep communities of color sick, polluted, and stuck paying the price for these giveaways,” said Faraz Rizvi, Campaign & Policy Manager, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) Action. “This is a test of political leadership in California. Lawmakers and the Governor have the opportunity to stand up to corporate influence and protect public health and the climate — or they can continue letting polluters call the shots. The choices made this session will define whether California truly leads the nation on climate and environmental justice, or whether it bends to Big Oil at the expense of frontline communities.”

This year, Big Oil didn’t just push for giveaways, it also lobbied aggressively to stall the Polluters Pay Superfund Act, a critical bill that would hold fossil fuel companies financially accountable for climate damages in California. Instead of paying for the harm Big Oil caused, it is trying to shift costs onto everyday Californians, putting people’s lives and pocketbooks on the line. 

“Oil and gas corporations are spending millions of dollars to kill policies that would save Californians money,” said Woody Hastings, Phase Out Polluting Fuels Program Director for The Climate Center. “This thinly-veiled ploy to protect their massive profits comes at the expense of our communities and climate. To truly address cost-of-living concerns, Governor Newsom and state lawmakers need to get serious about making polluters pay for the enormous costs of the climate crisis instead of leaving taxpayers to shoulder the burden.”

“Given extreme damage caused by the oil industry — explosions endangering communities and workers, asthma and cancer-causing emissions, and fueling catastrophic climate change, it’s perverse the industry spends millions killing environmental protections and making transportation more expensive,” said Julia May, Senior Scientists at Communities for a Better Environment. 

With Governor Newsom entering his final year in office, California faces a defining moment. Climate leadership means standing up to Big Oil’s influence and addressing refinery closures and the cost of living without putting the burden on communities who are already paying the price for Big Oil’s pollution. Instead of striking backroom deals that cut costs for corporations and drive up the price of living, California should be strengthening protections for workers, ensuring corporate accountability, and investing in a just transition to clean, affordable energy.

Additional information on Q3 lobbying activity is available upon request.

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METHODOLOGY: The numbers for this press release came from taking the original oil and gas industry list compiled by CAL-ACCESS and then removing any companies placed on the list which are part of the biomass or carbon removal industries.

Contact: 

Blake Marquez, Blake@sunstonestrategies.org
Isa Flores-Jones, ifloresjones@apenaction.org

Industry spending disclosures reveal that Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and Chevron outspent the other 4000+ registered California lobbyists 2025’s first half

Sacramento, CA — The oil industry is orchestrating a full-scale shakedown of California.

In the first half of 2025, the oil industry and its lobbying arm spent over $18 million to kill key climate legislation, protect its profits, and block efforts to hold it accountable — all while communities suffer from rising costs, pollution, and the accelerating impacts of climate change. The over $18 million figure puts the oil industry on pace for its second highest lobbying and influence spend of all time in California, trailing only behind last year’s final total of $38 million and well ahead of the previous record of $26.2 million in 2017.

Influence spending disclosure reports for the second quarter released for the August 1 deadline show that the industry’s spending binge includes multimillion-dollar misinformation campaigns designed to blame climate policies for high prices — when it’s really Big Oil’s own actions that are driving up costs. From gouging consumers at the pump to suddenly shutting down refineries and squeezing supply, fossil fuel corporations are manipulating the scarcity they created to lobby for further bailouts in the form of deregulation, subsidies, and unlimited oil drilling.

Top 6 lobbying and influence spenders (Jan – June 2025):

Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) were the top spenders for the oil industry and the state at-large during this period, disclosure records show. WSPA represents companies such as the refiner Valero and other major oil producers and refiners like Chevron, the latter of which funneled $100,000 to WSPA lobbying during the second quarter. Rounding out the top six spenders is Sable Offshore – an ExxonMobil offshoot aiming to restart its legacy offshore oil drilling unit along California’s Central Coast after the platform caused one of the largest offshore oil spills in state history in 2015. The company’s spending has launched it into the top six despite only lobbying between April 2025 and June 2025.

All five aggressively lobbied against SB 684, the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Bill, and SB 222, the Climate Disaster Liability Bill — legislation aimed at holding fossil fuel companies accountable for pollution, protecting workers and communities during refinery transitions, and stopping corporate price gouging. PBF Energy disclosed lobbying on “refinery retention issues,” while Marathon Refinery disclosed lobbying on at-berth rules overseen by regulatory authorities requiring oil mega-tankers to reduce emissions while docked at ports.

“Big Oil has spent millions to rewrite the rules for its own gain —rules that would keep communities of color sick, polluted, and stuck paying the price for these giveaways,” said Faraz Rizvi, Campaign and Policy Manager Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN). “We need lawmakers to reject this ransom effort. Big polluters should estimate cleanup cost estimates for their transition plans up front, ahead of closure. Otherwise, there’s nothing to stop Big Oil from repeating the same play next session.”

While the oil industry spends millions lobbying lawmakers across the state, advocates warn that draft bill language circulated in July by the Governor’s office would punch holes in California’s climate and health progress. If implemented, the proposal would scrap environmental quality review and the required financial assurances to protect against abandoned, toxin-filled orphan wells, allowing for unlimited drilling.

“They’re closing down refineries, squeezing supply, and then pressing their advantage to expand statewide drilling,” said Dan Ress with Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment. “This is a shakedown of California taxpayers disguised as a policy debate. By slashing critical environmental review and mitigation, the most recent proposal from the Governor’s administration is a straight giveaway to Big Oil – no strings attached. Instead, we need targeted interventions to ensure a stable short-term supply paired with long-term planning for a worker- and community-led transition to a sustainable economy.”

Communities on the frontlines — in Los Angeles, the Central Valley, and the Central Coast — have long borne the brunt of fossil fuel pollution. Now they’re being hit again: first by abrupt refinery shutdowns, and now by industry-led efforts to lock in another decade of extraction and delay a clean energy transition that would benefit everyone.

Meanwhile, frontline communities are fighting back. This summer, advocates have mounted lobby days, launched counter-ad campaigns, and demanded that Governor Newsom and state lawmakers side with people over polluters. The Stop the Oil Shakedown Coalition has called for oil supply stabilization, no bailouts for the oil industry, and transparent, full disclosure of refinery shut-down and cleanup costs to prevent further shakedowns. 

“We need real solutions — not another decade of dirty deals,” said Martha Dina Argüello, Executive Director at Physicians for Social Responsibility LA. “The oil industry wants unlimited drilling with no cleanup obligations, forcing communities to shoulder the health and climate costs while they pocket the profits. Then they turn around and blame the very communities that need protection. Californians deserve better than fear tactics and fossil-fueled excuses.”

Additional information on Q2 lobbying activity is available upon request.

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