The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an environmental tragedy of enormous proportion. We do not yet know long-term impacts it will have on the region’s economy and eco-system.
But given BP's role in this economic and environmental disaster, it would be highly irresponsible and inappropriate for Senator Blanche Lincoln to continue to finance her campaign in these final days before Arkansas’ Democratic primary with BP's tainted oil money.
That’s why today the League of Conservation Voters is calling on Senator Lincoln to return her BP bucks and either get on board or out of the way as Congress works to pass comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation that would increase energy independence, create new energy jobs and reduce the risk of man-made disasters like the BP oil spill.
In the past decade, Sen. Lincoln has been among the top three recipients of BP PAC money in the Senate, having received $12,000 from the oil company's political action committee since the 2001-02 election cycle. This election cycle alone, in which she has co-sponsored legislation that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing regulations to reduce harmful pollutants, Sen. Lincoln has received $4,000 in campaign cash from BP's PAC.
When the League of Conservation Voters named Senator Lincoln to the Dirty Dozen in January, we did so, in part, because she opposes comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation, despite the fact that it would help usher in a new clean energy economy by investing in clean American power and making polluters pay their fair share. But a closer look at her record shows that she has sided with Big Oil on numerous occasions.
For example, in 2006, Senator Lincoln voted for the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which ended protections for Florida’s Gulf Coast and opened up 8 million acres off the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana for oil drilling. She has also been inconsistent in supporting efforts to make cars run further on a tank of gas, voting to oppose increases in fuel efficiency standards in 1999, 2002 and 2005.
And we can’t forget that in addition to BP’s campaign cash, Senator Lincoln has received more than $1 million from Big Oil and other energy interests.
The BP oil spill makes it clear that we need to transition away from the failed dirty energy policies of the past and towards a cleaner, safer, more secure energy future. Arkansas voters can help make this future one step closer to a reality by voting out Sen. Lincoln in the May 18th Democratic primary.
You can contribute to Bill Halter via LCV Action Fund’s GiveGreen, the only website dedicated exclusively to raising money for pro-environment candidates.