The oil and gas industry paid large amounts to U.S. lawmakers who voted in favor of the Keystone XL oil pipeline bill, which passed the House this Wednesday and is now headed for the president's desk for a likely veto, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan political money watchdog MapLight.
On average, the oil and gas industry, which stands to hugely benefit from the construction of the pipeline, gave $45,375 to each of the 270 House members who voted in favor of the Keystone bill, according to MapLight.
Those who voted against the pipeline received 13 times less, $3,610, than their colleagues who voted in favor.
The 29 Democrats who voted "Yes" on the bill received about $18,141 each from the fossil fuel industry, about 5.3 times more than Democrats who voted "No," who still received about $3,444 each.
The bill passed the House Wednesday with a 270-152 vote. All but one Republican, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, voted in favor.
Rep. Mike Pompseo, R-Kansas, was the largest recipient of money from the oil and gas industry, accepting more than $327,000 in campaign contributions, according to MapLight.
At more than $112,000, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas received the most money out of any Democrat.
Upon examining data from the Senate, which passed the bill late last month, MapLight found that the oil and gas industry gave, on average, $236,544 to Senators who voted in favor of the pipeline, and only $22,882 to those who voted against.
Democratic Senators in favor received about 3.2 times more money ($73,279) than the Democratic and independent senators who voted against ($22,882).
Since the bill has now cleared both chambers of Congress, it will make its way to President Barack Obama's desk. The president has repeatedly threatened to veto the bill, arguing that the executive branch should ultimately decide whether the pipeline is built rather than Congress, and has only 10 days to do so.
The State Department is still reviewing feedback on the potential impact of the pipeline, reported CNN.
