On Wednesday, June 18, the day before the House Subcommittee on Power and Energy began its hearings on the Environmental Protection Agency’s new emission regulations, the
League of Conservation Voters published
an article by Jeff Gohringer, LCV’s national press secretary, listing 14 members of the Subcommittee who, according to the League, “likely do the bidding of polluters.” Gohringer predicted that the hearings would produce “the same old tired attacks on the proposal from those desperate to hold onto outdated, dirty, and dangerous sources of energy.”
The Energy and Power Subcommittee is part of Chairman Fred Upton’s Energy and Commerce Committee. Upton is also a member of the Subcommittee, which has 31 members: 17 white male Republicans and a diverse cast of 14 Democrats. None of the Democrats are among those who stand accused by the LCV. The three Republican members of the subcommittee not included on Gohringer’s list are
- Joseph R Pitts (PA)
- Bob Latta (OH)
- Adam Kinzinger (IL)
Gohringer makes his case using quotations attributed to the accused, and he lists career contributions as reported to OpenSecrets.Org as of June 17. Apparently, Gohringer is implying that some of these quotations are so baffling that he suspects Congressmen may be getting paid to make themselves look stupid in public.
Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (KY) elected 1994 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $614,865, Oil & Gas $458,497, Mining $302,377
Says he has “many books that question global warming and the science on global warming.” Said in a press release [ ] :
I call on Mr. Gore to come clean about the real science surrounding climate change and let the American people come to their own conclusions on global warming.
Subcommittee Vice Chairman Steve Scalise (LA) elected 2008 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $110,250, Oil & Gas $424,610
Contends per a
Times-Picayune report that there is a “vast amount of disagreement throughout the scientific community” on climate change, and “recent scientific data shows that the earth is currently in a cooling period.”
Ralph Hall (TX) elected 1980 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $686,345, Oil & Gas $635,334
Regarding the 97% scientific consensus, Hall said in a report published by Science Insider
And they each get $5,000 for every report like that they give out. That's just my guess. I don't have any proof of that. But I don't believe 'em. I still want to listen to 'em and believe what I believe I ought to believe.
John Shimkus (IL) elected 1996 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $688,212, Oil & Gas $467,611, Mining $255,784
Said in a
Politico interview
The question is more about the costs and benefits and trying to spend taxpayer dollars on something that you cannot stop versus the changes that have been occurring forever. That's the real debate.
Lee Terry (NE) elected 1998 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $414,358, Oil & Gas $339,645
Said in an
Esquire interview, “Is it really 97 [percent] to 3? I don’t think so.”
Michael C. Burgess (TX) elected 2002 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $181,822, Oil & Gas $334,896
Stated in a subcommittee hearing, "My opinion, for what it is worth, is that the science behind global temperature changes is not settled."
Bill Cassidy (LA) elected 2008 — Contributors: Oil & Gas $470,500
Said during an Energy and Commerce Committee markup conference that global warming could be a result of “just a shift on the axis.”
Pete Olson (TX) elected 2008 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $104,538, Oil & Gas $564,350
Says in a Youtube video that he doesn’t think government should regulate based on “half-truths, incomplete findings, and bogus claims.”
David McKinley (WV) elected 2010 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $141,250, Oil & Gas $161,000, Mining $479,379
Points to the “fact” that “Over the last 40 years, there has been almost no increase in temperature, very slight.” Mother Jones called him on this.
Cory Gardner (CO) elected 2010 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $121,350, Oil & Gas $491,550,
Said in a Fort Collins Coloradan interview that he doesn’t believe “humans are causing [climate] change to the extent that's been in the news.”
Mike Pompeo (KS) elected 2010 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $112,150, Oil & Gas $780,460
Argues that “Making policy on guesswork and ideology over science and basic common sense will only hurt American families. We will fight this, because America deserves better."
Morgan Griffith (VA) elected 2010 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $96,500 , Oil & Gas $117,950, Mining $217,038
Isn’t sure that global warming is manmade, but
if it is in fact man-made global warming, we’re not going to have the money to do anything about it — the Chinese are going to have all the money, the Indians are going to have the money. We’re not going to have the money.
Joe Barton (TX) elected 1984 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $1,589,735 , Oil & Gas $1,790,005
Points out in a
BuzzFeed interview that “the Great Flood is an example of climate change and that certainly wasn’t because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy.”
Fred Upton (MI) elected 1986 — Contributors: Electric Utilities $956,628, Oil & Gas $600,750
Accepts that global warming may be real after all, but adds, “I do not say it is man-made,” and "We need offshore drilling."
If more bloviation similar to the above is all that comes from this hearing, that would be fine; but a bill that tries to nullify the new emission standards seems all but inevitable.
Yesterday (June 21) Upton used the Weekly Republican Address to say
…this coming week, the House is going to vote on bills designed to make the most of America’s abundant energy supplies by building pipelines and transmission lines to connect our energy abundance to consumers, and by using our energy strength to fight back against hostile nations who use their resources to hold the rest of the world hostage.
We have already taken steps to modernize permitting, approve major energy projects, cut red tape for hydropower plants, and keep American coal in our energy mix.
“Steps to modernize permitting” apparently refers to HR 4795, the
Promoting New Manufacturing Act, which looks like it would tell the EPA to speed up the new-factory approval process, perhaps by not being so picky about potential emissions.
But wait! There’s more! Upton’s “all-of-the-above energy strategy,” which he called “visionary” in a recent email to his constituents, is
…very different than President Obama’s vision. [Obama’s] recently announced EPA rules for power plants is going to make it harder to use all of our American resources, and could well force states to ration energy, which certainly is going to make it more expensive to power our homes and factories. His record of energy development on federal lands remains dismal. And we all may rue the day that this president decided he could not say yes to the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline, which is going to displace energy from hostile parts of the world like Venezuela and the Middle East and replace it with supplies from our ally, our friend, Canada; instead, the project is in regulatory purgatory, and America waits and waits.
Upton’s entire address mentions non-fossil energy sources only in passing. Mentioning renewable every once in a while lets Upton keep on calling it an “all-of-the-above” energy policy. In truth, by “all-of-the-above” Upton means
as little mention as possible of the role renewable energy would play if he really meant “all of the above.” In the past two years, Here’s what Upton’s Committee has accomplished on behalf of non-fossil energy sources:
- One bill, passed by the House and signed by the President, okays the ownership transfer and license renewal of two single-megawatt hydroelectric plants in Connecticut.
- Another bill, also passed and signed, tells the office of the Secretary of Energy that it’s okay to engage in “coordinating and disseminating information on existing federal programs and assistance that may be used to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy retrofitting projects for schools.”
That’s it, the full extent of Upton’s Energy and Commerce Committee’s work on behalf of non-fossil energy sources in the past two years.
High school science classes in Illinois are several years ahead of Upton and his committee.
Since I live in Upton’s district, I’m concentrating my anger on him. Other Kossacks who live in Southwest Michigan—in fact, Kossacks everywhere—can help by signing the petition I set up with MoveOn.Org telling Upton that if he can’t do an about-face and help lead the transition from dirty energy to clean, he should do the Earth a favor and retire. If you live in a district represented by any of the other 13 on the League of Conservation Voters list, please pick a fight. If you start a petition of your own, I’ll be happy to sign it.
This is a two-fold issue.
- The American people are way out ahead of Washington on global warming, but we’re having trouble instilling in our legislators our own sense of urgency.
- We can’t overcome the funding sources that urge our legislators in the wrong direction.
Please get behind the
Overturn Citizens United Amendment and email your Senators and tell them to support it too.
(For more details on the case against Upton, please click here.)