Today marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day , the global celebration of all things green. Washington is a perennial target of environmental activism, as Mother Earth’s special interest groups try to sway Congress to support their efforts. But even the biggest green thumb can’t deny that the legislative landscape for environmental groups has changed dramatically during the past year — and not in a manner favorable to their causes.

An congressional effort to pass comprehensive climate change legislation went down in flames early in 2010 after environmental groups found themselves thoroughly out-lobbied , mainly by electric utilities and the oil and gas industry. And since watching independent voters turn to Republicans in droves during the 2010 election — and the House of Representatives subsequently flip from blue to red — Democrats in the 112th Congress have hardly uttered the words “cap” and “trade” in the same sentence (unless, of course, it was coupled with the word “oppose”).

But none of that is to say environmental groups aren’t still alive and kicking.

At least, some are: Many of last year’s top groups in the pro-environment arena have filed first quarter federal lobbying reports suggesting they are still very much engaged with Congress and the broader federal government, a preliminary Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

Three of these groups — World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife and Open Space Institute — even saw growth exceeding 100 percent compared to first quarter filings in 2010.

World Wildlife Fund saw the greatest quarter-to-quarter increase, spending $90,000 during the first three months of 2011 — a 164 percent increase over the $34,000 it spent during the same period last year. Defenders of Wildlife, meanwhile, spent $139,000 on federal lobbying efforts, more than double it spent during the first quarter in 2010.

Both groups lobbied on issues related to regulating greenhouse gases, energy independence and all manner of wildlife protection, according to their federal lobbying reports. They also both notably listed Republican-led legislation to cut federal funding for environmental programs as top issues on which they lobbied. Republicans in the House of Representatives targeted such funding in their budget for fiscal year 2011, as well as in the several “continuing resolutions” Congress passed to keep funding the federal government as Congress and the White House worked negotiated a final budget, which was finally passed last week.

Meanwhile, the Open Space Institute, a conservation-oriented group, more than doubled its own first quarter budget, spending about $41,300. It lobbied on issues related to preservation of federally-owned lands, among other issues..

But there are also groups that saw their expenditures sink.

First quarter federal lobbying reports were due to the federal government by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. They can be viewed in searchable databases on the websites of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate

The reports of the Clean Economy Network and US Climate Action Partnership , two other groups represented in the top 12 groups to lobby the federal government in 2010, were not yet available for public viewing.

Below is a table displaying the top 12 environmental groups to lobby the federal government in 2010, arranged by the quarterly percent change between first quarter 2010 and first quarter 2011:

Organization Q1 2010 Q1 2011 % change World Wildlife Fund $34,000 $90,000 164.7 Defenders of Wildlife $130,226 $311,234 139.0 Open Space Institute $20,000 $41,304 106.5 Conservation Trust Fund of Puerto Rico $110,000 $130,000 18.2 Intl. Assn. of Fish & Wildlife Agencies $115,000 $115,000 0.0 Sierra Club $90,000 $90,000 0.0 National Parks Conservation Assn $127,772 $104,648 -18.1 Nature Conservancy $550,000 $400,000 -27.3 Environmental Defense Fund $522,000 $315,000 -39.7 Green Tech Action Fund * $130,000 $30,000 -76.9 Clean Economy Network $456,500 n/a n/a US Climate Action Partnership $255,000 n/a n/a

( * It’s unclear as of today whether the Green Tech Action Fund had completely filed its first quarter paperwork.) In general, the environmental special interest area’s lobbying spending climbed rapidly during most of the past decade, peaking in 2009 at $22.87 million. During 2010, all environmental groups together spent slightly less — $19.9 million — but they still recorded their second-highest annual output ever.



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