Mike Parrish -candidate for the 6th district for US Congress from Pennsylvania- calls himself an environmentalist. His claim to the name: he owns a self-proclaimed “Environmental Services” company. Which services does his company provide? Do they qualify as “environmental?”
The company’s name is Daleco Resources Corporation and the opening line on the company’s site is: “Daleco Resources Corporation is a publicly traded natural resource company with two operating divisions -- minerals and oil and gas. The oil and gas division has interests in 31 producing wells in Texas, Pennsylvania and West Virginia… The minerals division holds properties located in New Mexico, Texas and Utah as of March 31, 2012.”
Oil production and mineral extraction. In a creative way this might qualify as environmental services. The services provided do impact the environment, so yeah, environmental services… makes sense. As our beloved former President George W. Bush once said “fool me once (pause) ….shame on you, fool me twice, (pauses, forgets saying)”... which goes on to say “fool me twice shame on me.” It’s lucky for us that we have the internet around so we can find out how environmental our newly-switched Democratic candidate is and we aren’t fooled either once or twice.
What concerns me is that in spite of his republican background and ownership of an oil and gas company, the Chester County Democratic party decided to endorse Mike Parrish anyway. Were they fooled like Bush, or apathetic to Parrish’s background?
The Chester County Democratic Committee’s statement following the choice to endorse the oil man was: “Now that the balloting has finished, it is incumbent upon all Democrats in Chester County to work tirelessly to elect the candidates who will move our Commonwealth forward and fight for our shared principles of freedom, fairness and opportunity,” McGinnis said in a press release. “I look forward to working with our endorsed candidates to secure victory both in the primaries and the general election this fall.”
No, it most certainly is not incumbent on anyone with an environmental conscience to buy into Mike Parrish’s campaign. It is not incumbent on anyone with common sense to spend one day or one dollar getting a two-years-new Democrat (who was Republican in 2014) into office. It is incumbent on anyone with an environmental conscience to reject this error by the Chester County Democratic Committee and demand they revote.
At a time when too many Democrats are already too beholden to the oil industry the last thing we need is to endorse someone who made all of his money in the oil sector.
Mike Parrish was friendly enough, but it’s time for him to go back to the right side of the aisle. He’s no Democrat, he’s certainly no progressive and we don’t want him here.