A blow was struck today for the status quo, and the Keystone XL pipeline when in the interest of sustaining their 'bipartisan' contributions two "environmental" groups (the Environmental Defense Fund and an affiliated group) began running ads for KXL supporter Republican Susan Collins in her bid to overcome the insurgent campaign of Progressive Democrat Shenna Bellows.
Bellows turned heads when she out-raised Collins in her first quarter using low dollar grassroots contributions vs the PAC backed incumbent. Now the sh*t comes down.
The League of Conservation Voters (PDF) gave Collins a lackluster 69 rating, placing her 34th out of 35 (just ahead of Republican Kelly Ayotte) among New England Congress critters in their 2013 scorecard. She's a supporter of Keystone XL, and despite pressure from the Natural Resources Council of Maine she's declined to take a stand on the controversial possibility of tar sands oil crossing Maine from Alberta to Montreal, Quebec.
Bellows views on Climate change, KXL, TPP, would put her more in line with Angus King (I-ME) and the views of most Mainers, and well to the progressive side of the Republican incumbent. Shenna Bellows opposes Keystone XL:
"The transport of the dirtiest oil on the planet – tar sands oil – through the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline threatens farms and drinking water, and it will accelerate climate change," said Bellows. "Yet again, big oil interests in Washington beat out the interests of ordinary Americans. It’s disappointing that Congress, including my opponent Susan Collins, voted to allow the Keystone XL Pipeline project to move forward over the objections of hundreds of thousands of Americans. We need change in Washington to confront climate change before it’s too late.
And Bellows, who has been
endorsed by leading Maine environmentalists, calls the transport of tar sands across Maine "
potentially catastrophic."
To their credit, the group also is running ads for 6 Democratic Senatorial Candidates in red states, but apparently they haven't heard that the Senate may be in the balance, that there is not a more conservative candidate in the Maine race, and that the first vote in the Senate in 2015 will be for the Republican or Democrat who would control the Senate agenda.
I can think of no 'earthly' reason for this first ad of the political season in Maine to be coming from this source other than that they are trying to promote themselves to centrist donors.
Oh, and it tells me the Collins camp is taking the risk of an upset as real.
Let's support a progressive Democrat who will be a true champion for the environment- not a token Republican who will keep enabling the worst in her party.