The global financial crisis has bypassed the U.S. lobbying industry. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that "the year-to-date total spent on lobbying now stands at $2.5 billion through the end of September, with that sum supporting 13,428 individual active lobbyists. By comparison, the total amount spent on all federal lobbying during 2005 was $2.43 billion." Spurred on by the impending health care reform legislation, Michael Beckel notes that "the health sector remains the year's top spender on lobbying, with $396 million between January and September", a 9% increase on the same period in 2008. One of the other big-spenders is the energy and natural resources sector which spent $300 million on federal lobbying, a 6% jump on the same period last year. Electric utilities -- which would be affected by the Waxman-Markey climate bill [3], have boosted spending compared to the previous quarter.