League of Conservation Voters: Big Oil's allies install Paul Ryan as Speaker

Big Oil’s cronies scored a major victory with the ascension of Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House. 

This is an “all-hands-on-deck” moment — we need every LCV member with us as we take on Speaker Ryan and his allies in the dirty energy industry. 

There are three things we want LCV members to know about Paul Ryan right now (!). 

1. He denies climate science: Despite the fact that 97 percent of climate scientists say climate change is happening and the problem is man-made, Paul Ryan said last year that he doesn’t know the answer on climate change … and that science doesn’t either (a statement that’s simply appalling).
2. His budget plans were a massive giveaway to Big Oil. Every single one of Paul Ryan’s recent budget plans maintained $40 billion in special tax breaks for Big Oil, while slashing funding for programs critical to our air, water, lands, and wildlife.
3. He has consistently voted against the environment. Paul Ryan has earned an abysmal lifetime LCV score of just 12 percent. He’s voted against drinking water safeguards, clean air protections, clean energy investments, and countless other pro-environment policies.

Despite all of this, Speaker Ryan has an opportunity for a fresh start. But a fresh start only happens if he’s held accountable by a well-organized environmental community. To be crystal clear: an attack on the EPA and sensible actions to address climate change is not a fresh start. 


No challenge poses a greater threat to the future of our planet than climate change. That’s why LCV is fighting back against attacks on the EPA and efforts to roll back our bedrock environmental laws, and organizing support for President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. 

But transitioning away from fossil fuels and fighting climate change is the last thing Speaker Ryan wants — and it’s not hard to see why. In fact, Koch Industries Inc., led by oil billionaires Charles and David Koch, has been among Ryan's top lifetime contributors, giving the Wisconsin politician more than $80,000 between the 1998 and 2016 election cycles. And he’s received nearly $600,000 in campaign contributions over his career from the oil and gas industry. 

Poll after poll shows that Americans want action on climate change. We want to invest in clean energy and to have clean air and water for our families. Speaker Ryan and his allies will try to say that action on climate change is too costly, but the truth is that we can’t afford not to act. 

We have organizers on the ground in states across the country building support for the EPA. We have allies on the Hill every single day fighting for legislation that protects our environment. We have NASA, scientists, and even the Pentagon on our side. And we have you.