Money, plain and simple, is what Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald [3] called "the bacteria that ills the American political system" in a talk [4] given at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on November 3, 2010. Indeed, when looking at issues individually, one can see that this is obviously the case, whether it be health care [5], Wall Street [6], war [7], or on national security issues [8]. It's all the same and he who pays the piper calls the tune [9].

Should anyone be surprised, then, that every statewide race in Pennsylvania [10], a state in which there are no limits on campaign contributions [11], was ruthlessly barraged [12] by campaign money from oil companies? If you're surprised, you clearly haven't had your eyes open during other election cycles [13].

Marcellus Money

Originally making waves with its "Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets" [14] report, Common Cause of Pennsylvania [15] has stepped up to the plate once again and created an indispensable database called, appropriately enough, "Marcellus Money," [16] which tracked campaign contributions from natural gas drilling companies in the run-up to the 2010 elections. The final calculations shed some predictable light on the issue of money's plaguing influence on elections:

* $835,720 [17]: Total amount of money oil drilling companies gave to Republican Governor-elect Tom Corbett [18].

* $112,800 [19]: Total amount of money given to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato [20] by oil drilling companies.

* $2,262,095.61: Dollar amount given to Republican candidates during the election cycle by oil drilling companies during the election cycle.

-$500,005.00: Dollar amount given to Democratic candidates during the election cycle by oil drilling companies during the election cycle.

* $1,029,210 [21]: Total amount of money given by the SW Jack Drilling Company during the election cycle.

* $250,000: Amount of money [22] given by Christine Toretti [23], the CEO of SW Jack Drilling Company, during the election cycle. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, that included [22] "That included covering about $15,000 in air fare and hotels for Corbett's campaign."

* Inquirer [22]: "That included a $100,000 check from Lance Shaner [24], the newly appointed chief executive officer of Rex Energy [25], which has permits for 57 wells and more pending. Also on the list was $15,000 from Michael Radler, an executive at Chief Oil & Gas [26], which has nearly 200 permits and which had already given Corbett's campaign $53,000."

The numbers speak for themselves. The movement for environmental justice is up against some powerful factions with big bucks behind their cause.

In an October 3 article [27] titled "America's Deepening Moral Crisis," Professor Jeffrey Sachs [28], economist and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University [29] correctly portended, "America’s political and economic crisis is set to worsen following the upcoming November elections. President Barack Obama [30] will lose any hope (assuming he had any [31] in the first place) for passing progressive legislation aimed at helping ... the environment. Indeed, all major legislation and reforms are likely to be stalemated until 2013, following a new presidential election. An already bad situation marked by deadlock and vitriol is likely to worsen, and the world should not expect much leadership from a bitterly divided United States. Much of America is in a nasty mood, and the language of compassion has more or less been abandoned."

Things aren't looking good on the most important issue of them all: environmental justice, or, in more stark terms, the future of the world as we know it.