The Environment Has Many Enemies In Congress-- And Fred Upton Is The Most Dangerous Of All

There may be more than one reason so many voters in southwest Michigan want this to be Fred Upton's last term. First elected in 1986 (when Ronald Reagan was president), there's a general feeling that Upton's been in Congress too long and that he's now "one of them," not "one of us." He's become a creature of the Beltway and he pushes policies for K Street lobbyists and big special interests rather than for working families back in Kalamazoo, Portage, Niles, Benton Harbor/St. Joseph or Paw Paw. Or maybe it's because 69% of MI-06 residents say they opposed shutting down the government in order to stop Obamacare, something Upton voted for. People in southwest Michigan know he doesn't give a damn what they think… he's all about DC now and the only politics he's come to pay attention to are the politics inside the GOP House caucus.

Or maybe it's because Upton's role as one of the single most pollution-enabling politicians in the entire world has finally started sinking in. Filthy air, filthy water, Climate Change and global warming, all have Upton's paw prints all over them. The non-partisan, non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council-- which boasts 1.4 million members-- made yesterday Fred Upton Day. Their political Action Fund is in the midst of exposing the worst Members of Congress. "For some members of Congress casting dirty votes and accepting campaign contributions from polluters is a normal day in Washington," they explained last month. "But, this August, as members return home to face voters, the NRDC Action Fund will expose some of them for exactly who they are: dirty deniers. Beginning August 4, the NRDC Action Fund will name “Daily Dirty Deniers” each weekday, featuring members (#DailyDenier$) who allow polluters to foul our air by casting dirty votes and accepting dirty money."

The NRDC Action Fund will highlight 20 total members during the August recess which leads into the unofficial kickoff to election season. The “Daily Dirty Denier$” campaign is focused on bringing attention to these member Congress while they are home and trying to convince voters they have their best interests in mind. We will expose:

House members who have now voted almost 200 times in just this Congress to weaken or eliminate environmental protections;

• How outside polluter money is being used to support #DirtyDenier$;
• Why polluters lost in 2012 and why they will lose again in 2014; and
• Support for climate action specifically among the rising American electorate.

We'll get to Upton in a minute. These are the other dirty crooks they've exposed so far: Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Henry Cuella (Blue Dog-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Tom Latham (R-IA), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mike Coffman (R-CO), John Boozman (R-AR), John Kline (R-MN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Scott Brown (R-MA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tim Walberg (R-MI), and, of course, Miss McConnell (R-KY).

Today’s Dirty Denier$ is Rep. Fred Upton, a Republican from Michigan and Chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Upton has used his leadership position to try to move the nation backward, and his record on clean air and climate change keeps getting worse.

Upton has been all over the map on the facts about climate change. In 2011, he said he didn’t believe humans are contributing to global climate change. Since then, he’s been mostly silent on that basic issue, but he’s been loud in his opposition to doing anything about climate. He has used extreme rhetoric to characterize the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, calling it “an unconstitutional power grab that will kill millions of jobs” and a “train wreck.”

And consider that one of the first bills that Upton sponsored upon assuming the chairmanship of the committee would have permanently blocked EPA from doing anything at all to address carbon pollution. Moreover, the bill would have increased America’s dependence on oil by undermining efficiency standards for motor vehicles, and cost consumers $58 billion. Upton has also given his blessing to multiple bills to undo various aspects of the Clean Air Act.

The dirty fuel interests that have given nearly $2 million in campaign contributions to Upton over the course of his career are no doubt pleased with his record. However, the same can’t be said for his constituents back home. According to recent polling from the NRDC Action Fund in key states including Michigan, overwhelming majorities of voters in that group of states support strong action to stop dangerous carbon pollution. This includes 53% of Republicans. Michigan’s Republican Governor Rick Snyder has said, “People may not agree about why climate change is happening, but it is certainly affecting Michigan.”

Michigan has a lot to gain from a clean energy policy. In 2013 alone, Michigan announced more than 1700 jobs in the renewable energy sector, placing it 12th in the country for new job creation. And in a signal that better days are ahead for both the economy and the environment, 380 of those jobs were in clean vehicle manufacturing.

Our advice: It’s time for Congressman Upton to once again reinvent himself. It’s time to stop being a Dirty Denier$ and start being a clean energy champion for his state.

Obviously there's no chance whatsoever that Upton-- an hereditary multimillionaire, scion of the job-exporting Whirlpool fortune-- will be taking that advice to heart. So our advice is to replace him with progressive Democrat Paul Clements.

After the statement from the Natural Resources Defense Council we reached Clements in Kalamazoo and he told us that "when the Los Angeles Times singled Congressman Upton out as the #1 enemy of Planet Earth, they weren't exaggerating. He has used his role in Congress to raise millions from special interests, over $644,000 from the oil and gas industry alone, and advocated for those that fund his campaigns, not his constituents. He has led the extreme fight against the EPA, stopped any progress on Climate Change, and fought against creating the sustainable hi-tech jobs that will employ thousands in Michigan. He's voted against requiring companies to report dangerous chemicals found in our drinking water and has taken over $20,000 dollars from a company that has one of America’s most toxic waste sites here on the Kalamazoo River, which puts our Great Lakes in danger. The technology and the incentives are there to protect our planet and create the jobs of the future in the Midwest, but we can't do it with backwards, bought and paid for, members like Congressman Upton in Congress."

Blue America wants to remind you that you can help Paul Clements replace Fred Upton here.