Lobbying by energy and business groups ticked up in the third quarter as both houses of Congress took up sweeping climate change legislation. As reported earlier this week, the Chamber of Commerce spent a record $34.7 million in the third quarter amid high-profile defections over its position on climate change. The National Association of Manufacturers, which has faced similar criticism about it opposition to climate legislation, reported spending $5.75 million in the third quarter, a more than 400 percent increase from last quarter. (Both groups, of course, lobby on more than just energy.)

The Business Roundtable, though it has seen its star rise recently as the Obama adminsitration freezes out the Chamber, cut its lobbying spending drastically, from $6.1 million in the second quarter, to just $1.8 million this quarter.

The Association of American Railroads, which has a huge hand in transporting coal throughout the country, reported spending $2.2 million (down from $2.8 the last two quarters), and the American Petroleum Institute spent $2.2 million (up from $1.8 million and $1.9 million in the previous two). Utility trade group Edison Electric Institute, which has voiced concerns about certain parts of Waxman-Markey (especially pertaining to emissions credits) but has not opposed it, has kept a pretty steady flow of money -- roughly $2.6 million -- going into its lobbying efforts throughout the year. Both the United Services Automobile Association and the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers both topped a $1 million this last quarter.