Although leading members of Congress are telling the White House to shelve the cap and trade bill until 2011, almost 2,800 lobbyists for alternative energy, traditional energy, energy consuming and other companies are gearing up to fill the campaign coffers of Congressmen. Whether they are fighting for government subsidies and regulations that would make otherwise uneconomic alternative energy companies great investments or they are protecting oil and coal producers, the lobbyists stand to make a killing helping politicians further distort the U.S. and world economies. Because Colorado is an important natural gas, oil and coal producing state, it will be affected by these battles. Of course, with five lobbyists for every member of Congress, the best way for a lobbyist to gain access to a member is to contribute to his or her campaign. Votes are for sale and money talks. Politico’s impact graphs:

Watch soup makers face off against steel companies. Witness the folks who pump gas from the ground fight back against those who dig up rock. And watch the venture capitalists who have money riding on new technology try to gain advantage in a game that so far has been deftly controlled by the old machine.

An analysis of the latest federal records by the Center for Public Integrity shows that the overall number of businesses and groups lobbying on climate legislation has essentially held steady at about 1,160, thanks in part to a variety of interests that have left the fray. But a close look at the 140 or so interests that jumped into the debate for the first time in the third quarter shows a marked trend: Companies and organizations that feel they’ve been overlooked are fighting for a place at the table.

The amount of money involved quite likely rose as well. Although amounts spent on lobbying by issue are not disclosed, if the groups involved spent just 10 percent of their lobbying budgets on climate issues, they shelled out $30.5 million in the third quarter — up nearly 13 percent over the previous quarter.

Links:

New groups join climate lobby fray.

Dems to WH: Drop cap and trade. By Lisa Lerer.