At
Grist, Lisa Hymas
introduces the 10 top "brownwashing" Republicans. That is, GOP politicians so worried about their right flank that they are "scrambling to distance themselves from past environment-friendly statements, initiatives, and votes."
10. Scott Brown
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
Before: "Reducing carbon dioxide emission in Massachusetts has long been a priority of mine,'' he said in 2008 when, as a member of the state Senate, he voted in favor of his state joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a carbon-trading initiative in the Northeast. "Passing this legislation is an important step ... towards improving our environment.''
After: "I think the globe is always heating and cooling. It's a natural way of ebb and flow. The thing that concerns me lately is some of the information I've heard about potential tampering with some of the information," he said in December 2009, as the "Climategate" faux-scandal was raging. In April 2011, he voted to strip the U.S. EPA of its authority to regulate carbon dioxide. ...
Gov. Paul LePage (Campaign Photo)
7. Paul LePage
Governor of Maine
Before: In 2006, as mayor of Waterville, Maine, he signed his city on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, committing to cut the city's greenhouse gas emissions and push for broader climate action.
After: In September 2010, while running for governor, he said, "I don't know [if] global warming is a myth or not. ... I will say this: I do not believe in the Al Gore science." ...
3. Fred Upton
U.S. Rep from Michigan
Before: "Climate change is a serious problem that necessitates serious solutions," he said in April 2009. And his website declared, "I strongly believe that everything must be on the table as we seek to reduce carbon emissions."
After: But in December 2010, while angling to become chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he wrote, "On Jan. 2, the Environmental Protection Agency will officially begin regulating the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. This move represents an unconstitutional power grab that will kill millions of jobs ... This presumes that carbon is a problem in need of regulation. We are not convinced." And a few days later, he said, "I don't think that we have to regulate carbon to the degree we have a carbon tax or you have a cap-and-trade system."
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2005:
There's little more exciting to me than municipal wi-fi -- munipialities creating free hot zones for their residents to enjoy.
But forever carrying water for Big Business, the GOP isn't happy with consumers getting free Internet.
A Texas Congressman has introduced a bill that impose a nationwide prohibition on municipally-sponsored networks.
Dubbed by the Author, Representative Pet Sessions (R-Texas), the Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005, the bill prohibits state and local governments from providing any telecommunications or information service that is "substantially similar" to services provided by private companies.
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Note: Kossack Tyto Alba provided the photo of the little sawhet owl in tonight's new Night Owls banner. "She got caught over in the Santa Ynez River valley in a barbed wire fence. She healed up fine and was put back where she came from."