The League of Conservation voters has updated its
Dirty Dozen (pdf) a list of vulnerable legislators who are bad for the environment.
It shouldn't surprise anyone that elected officials who serve cronies, industries, and corporations are the ones who have been chosen. Which is to say, the list is made up of names that DailyKos users would like to send home anyhow - for their environmental stands and for so many more reasons.
Cross-posted to ePluribusMedia
It also isn't surprising that the chosen few are all Republicans. We've come to think of the
Culture of Corruption as the defining characteristic of Republicans on Capitol Hill. Though not every last one of them is actually corrupt. Perhaps an even more pervasive uniting principle of today's GOP is their anti-environmental actions. (Which would have Theodore Roosevelt and other antecedents spinning in their graves.) Though, in fairness, some modern-day Republicans have taken good stands on the environment. But, all in all, corruption and anti-environmentalism seem to go hand in hand. Those singled out for attention this election cycle are:
- Rep. Richard Pombo (CA-11)
- Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
- Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
- Rep. Katherine Harris (FL-13)
- Rep. Bob Ney (OH-18)
- Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO)
- Rep. Heather Wilson (NM-01)
LCV also refers to this septet as the Oil Slick Seven, since they've all been eager to do the industry's bidding.
I'm not exactly sure who's been dropped from the list - if any - or why Pombo wasn't already on it. But one can assume that perhaps Duke Cunningham (now cooling his heels in a federal prison for corruption) was one of them. And Tom Delay, the former exterminator, who recently vacated his House seat before the voters had a chance to give him the boot, was presumably another.
The PDF report is a modest 11 pages in length, and well worth a look just for it's goofy, exuberant graphics. And as I've search the LCV website, it would appear that the Dirty Dozen is actually only these seven - can't find another 5 to make up twelve. Why do they call it the Dirty Dozen? I'm guessing that perhaps more names will be added by the end of the summer to bring it up to twelve.
Leaving that bit of confusion aside, it would appear that any perceived differences between environmentalists and progressives amount to nothing on this matter. Because I think we're all united that we'd like to see these seven looking for new jobs next year.