"When in doubt, follow the money."

Why is it that amidst the biggest U.S. oil spill ever, in a summer of searing heatwaves, catastrophic fires and floods, and dramatically disintegrating ice sheets, the U.S. Senate couldn't even bring climate-change legislation up for a vote? Many possible explanations have been offered: congressional fatigue after the health-care debate; political cowardice in the face of public confusion on the issue; and straight-up political gamesmanship. Following the advice of Deep Throat, Steve Kretzmann, executive director of the group Oil Change International recommends "When in doubt, follow the money." You can do so at his organization's new interactive DirtyEnergyMoney.com site, which tracks the flow of petro-dollars into the halls of Congress. You'll learn, for example, that the coal industry favors Democrats, while the GOP remains the favored recipient of oil-and-gas money. The biggest spending company of them all? That would be Koch Industries, the goblin at the bottom of so many money trails. Happy hunting!

--Paul Rauber