Which Democrats Have The Worst Voting Records On The Environment?

Blue Dog Collin Peterson has the worst environmental record of any Democrat in Congress, worst than some Republicans'

Politically, the League of Conservation Voters tends to be a shill group for the DCCC and the establishment Dems. They love getting invited to DC cocktail parties and being treated "seriously" by the top Dems in Washington. They normally endorse awful Democrats from the Republican wing of the party. But this week they released their 2017 scorecard and it looks bad for some of the right-of-center Democrats in Congress. Here are the worst of them (lifetime scores):

• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 32%
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- 41%
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)- 47%
• Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)- 50%
• Al Lawson (FL)- 69%
• Vicente Gonzales (Blue Dog-TX)- 71%
• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)- 71%
• Filemon Vela (Blue Dog-TX)- 73%
• Mike Doyle (PA)- 77%
• Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)- 78
• Cedric Richmond (New Dem-LA)- 78%
• Bobby Rush (IL)- 79%
• Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL)- 80%
• Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)- 80%
• David Scott (New Dem)- 81%
• Bennie Thompson (MS)- 81%
• Pete Visclosky (IN)- 81%
• Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN)- 82%
• Steny Hoyer (MD)- 82%
• Marcy Kaptur (OH)- 82%
• Tim Walz (MN)- 83%
• Charlie Crist (Blue Dog-FL)- 83%
• Alcee Hastings (FL)- 83%
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)- 83%
• Jim Clyburn (SC)- 84%
• Al Green (TX)- 84%

26 Democrats with scores below 85! Actually there are more, but I didn't include incumbents who aren't running again in November. So why did I enclose the list? The DCCC is making a big "lesser of two evils" push, trying to persuade progressives to support their corporate candidates. I just want you to see what you get when you back DCCC candidates from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. Some stand with the NRA. Many stand with Wall Street against working families. Some are anti-Choice. Some are anti-gay. (Even the head of the DCCC, Ben Ray Lujan, is a mentally ill self-loathing closet case who shouldn't be running the DCCC but spending his time seeing a psychiatrist and figuring out why, in 2018 a Democrat has to pretend he isn't gay.)

There aren't many Republicans with flat-out ZERO scores... but there are some, like 6 sociopaths from Georgia-- Karen Handel, Buddy Carter , Drew Ferguson, Jody Hice, Barry Loudermilk and Rick Allen-- as well as 20 others, including Liz Cheney (WY), Glenn Grothman (WI), Brian Babin (TX), Mark Walker (NC), Jason Lewis (MN), Ron Estes (KS) and Francis Rooney (FL).

Anti-environment extremist Virginia Foxx had a ZERO for this cycle-- a 3% for her whole lifetime in Congress. Jenny Marshall is using Foxx's voting record to help her explain to North Carolina voters why Foxx is a bad choice for them. Yesterday she sent out an e-mail to voters in northwest North Carolina, from Kernersville, Winston-Salem and Clemmons to Mount Airy, Boone and Newland.

Virginia Foxx just got graded on her environmental policy record, and the results are BAD.

For the 3rd year in a row, Rep. Foxx has scored a resounding 0% on the League of Conservation Voters' Environmental Scorecard, which grades U.S. House and Senate members on their pro-environment policies.

Foxx's complete failure of this critical test means she's voted no on every single piece of pro-environment legislation that's come her way. In 2017 alone, she's voted to slash EPA funding, attack protections on our natural resources, and even decided to vote against the Stream Protection Rule which protects rural North Carolinians from dirty, toxic water.

The 5th District needs a candidate who will fight for the environment as well as the health and safety of families who depend on it. Virginia Foxx is not that candidate.

You may have noticed that one of the handful of Republicans with a ZERO lifetime grade on the League of Conservation scorecard was Kansas congressman Ron Estes. Wichita deserves better. And the Democrat taking Estes on this year is James Thompson-- who is offering better-- a lot better. "I am truly disappointed to see Representative Ron Estes was one of only a few members of Congress to received a zero lifetime score from The League of Conservation Voters today," he told us yesterday. "This world is the only home we have, and finding solutions to our climate crises should not be controversial, but seen as a huge economic opportunity for Kansas. Farmers are the original conservationists and have led the way in Kansas and the country. It’s a shame that Rep Estes hasn’t taken the lead on this issue in the House. A true leader would have recognized Kansans can and must encourage conservation and investment in renewable energy like Kansas wind power. This will not only decrease our dependence on foreign oil, but create non-exportable jobs here in Kansas. Wind energy has massive economic potential for our state and region. Kansas can be a global leader in this field-- too bad Rep Estes either doesn’t see this or just doesn’t care."

There Are 14 House Democrats And 3 Senate Dems Who The GOP Counts On To Vote With Them Against The Environment

A dozen Republicans have better environmental voting records than corporate whore Collin Peterson

The League of Conservation Voters has released it's national environmental scorecard for the first session of the 114th Congress. As they explain, it is meant to provide voters with "objective, factual information about the most important environmental legislation considered and the corresponding voting records of all members of the first session of the 114th Congress [and] represents the consensus of experts from about 20 respected environmental and conservation organizations who selected the key votes on which members of Congress should be scored. LCV scores votes on the most important issues of the year, including energy, climate change, public health, public lands and wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs. The votes included in this Scorecard presented members of Congress with a real choice and help distinguish which legislators are working for environmental protection."

In general, Democrats were found to be working toward protecting the environment and battle climate change and the Republicans were found to be corporate tools disregarding some of the most crucial issues facing mankind. No surprises there. But how about the Democrats working hand-in-hand with the Republicans to sabotage environmental issues, attacking clean air and water protections, for example? House Members were graded on 35 roll call votes this session. 14 Democrats, primarily Blue Dogs and Wall Street-owned New Dems, proved themselves to be enemies of the planet, nearly as bad as Republicans. The worst House Democrats:-- from bad to worse:

• Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL)- 71%
• Gwen Graham (Blue Dog-FL)- 69%
• Ted Deutch (FL)- 66%
• Zoe Lofgren (CA)- 66%
• Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)- 63%
• Gene Green (TX)- 63%
• Ruben Hinojosa (TX)- 60%
• Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)- 60%
• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)- 57%
• Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)- 54%
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)- 43%
• Brad Ashford (Blue Dog-NE)- 31%
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- 20%
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 14%

43 House Members, all of them Democrats, had perfect scores (100%)-- real champions of the environmental movement:

• Jared Huffman (D-CA)
• Jerry McNerney (CA)
• Nancy Pelosi (CA)
• Mike Honda (CA)
• Ann Ashoo (CA)
• Julia Brownley (CA)
• Adam Schiff (CA)
• Brad Sherman (CA)
• Linda Sánchez (CA)
• Lucille Royball-Allard (CA)
• Mark Takano (CA)
• Janice Hahn (CA)
• Alan Lowenthal (CA)
• Diana DeGette (CO)
• Elizabeth Esty (CT)
• Alan Grayson (FL)
• Lois Frankel (FL)
• Hank Johnson (GA)
• Tulsi Gabbard (HI)
• Jan Schakowsky (IL)
• Chellie Pingree (ME)
• Donna Edwards (MD)
• Chris Van Hollen (MD)
• Jim McGovern (MA)
• Joe Kennedy (MA)
• Katherine Clark (MA)
• Keith Ellison (MN)
• Frank Pallone (NJ)
• Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ)
• Nydia Velázquez (NY)
• Hakeem Jeffries (NY)
• Yvette Clarke (NY)
• Jerry Nadler (NY)
• Jose Serrano (NY)
• Nita Lowey (NY)
• Paul Tonko (NY)
• David Price (NC)
• Chaka Fattah (PA)
• Brendon Boyle (PA)
• Jim Langevin (RI)
• Steve Cohen (TN)
• Bobby Scott (VA)
• Jim McDermott (WA)

In The Senate, all the members were graded on 25 roll call votes. There were only 3 anti-environmental Senate Dems, all across-the-board conservatives: Joe Donnelly (IN), Heidi Heitkamp (ND) and Joe Manchin (WV).

Hillary Is Better Than Any Of The Republicans Running For President But, At Least At This Point, That's Not Good Enough

Last night Dr. Richard Champion showed us how Hillary had helped enable BP and their offshore drilling that resulted in the world's worst marine oil spill in 2010 off the coast of Louisiana. On the Senate floor she literally said "not in the Finger Lakes" and "not off Long Island" while voting for Bobby Jindal's bill that led directly to a spill that cost U.S. taxpayers over $100 billion and resulted in incalculable environmental devastation in the Gulf of Mexico area from Florida to Texas.

Environmental champion Brad Johnson, writing at Grist, excoriated one of the hack DC establishment environmental groups, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) for jumping on the Hillary bandwagon way too quickly. (This is what DC establishment organizations do to assure their executives get invited to all the right cocktail parties. Is LCV about the environment or about kissing up to the DNC, DCCC and DSCC?) Johnson was dismayed that LCV "took the unprecedented step of endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, after only one debate between the Democratic candidates and months before the first vote in the Democratic primaries will be cast. That was a big mistake. It’s far too early in this primary for the nation’s most powerful environmental political organization to endorse."

[B]y LCV’s own metrics, Clinton has the weakest environmental record of the Democratic candidates. Bernie Sanders is the highest rated candidate on the LCV scorecard, as well as the scorecard put out by my organization, the Climate Hawks Vote PAC. Martin O’Malley was the first and so far the only candidate to release a comprehensive presidential climate agenda.

...In just a few months, Sanders’ issue-powered candidacy has done more to make Clinton a better candidate than all the rest of us in the climate movement. The Democratic primary has been focused not on personalities and insults but on the issues the American people care about. We saw that clearly in the first Democratic debate, in which Sanders unequivocally stated that fossil-fueled global warming is the greatest national security threat we face, O’Malley described his vision of a fossil-free America, and Clinton spoke passionately about her efforts to secure a deal out of the Copenhagen climate talks.

Meanwhile, the Republican clown-car primary is dominating our airtime with attacks on science bought and paid for by Exxon and the Koch brothers. The Republicans have scheduled twice as many debates as the Democrats, have five times as many candidates, and their fossil-fueled super PACs have 10 times as much cash.

Now, at the beginning of the primary season, LCV has essentially declared that there’s no need for any further discussion of the environment or climate by the Democratic candidates.

I’ll leave it to others to speculate what, in fact, motivated LCV to endorse Clinton. No matter the reasons,  the decision deprived the group of a crucial chance to push her on climate throughout the primary. And its decision made it harder for the rest of the environmental movement to do so too.

OK, I'll speculate-- LCV, like so many Americans is a captive of the lesser-of-two-evils approach to American politics that permits the two party establishments to foist their miserable corrupt candidates on us election after election, up and down the ballot. Bernie-- you can contribute to his campaign here-- is the first hope we've had in I don't know how long to break away from that. End of commercial; back to Johnson, beginning, ironically, with his own modified lesser-of-two-evils approach:

Let’s be clear: Hillary Clinton, like Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, has the ability to be a powerful climate leader, unlike any of the corrupt and dangerous Republican candidates.

But the reality of the climate crisis is uncompromising. Our challenge is to elect fierce, uncompromising climate hawks. LCV has declared Clinton the best despite the fact that she has the weakest, most mixed record on climate and the environment of any of the three candidates.

As secretary of state, Clinton promoted the internationalization of fracking and oversaw the State Department’s initial support for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The one major climate accomplishment she touts, the Copenhagen Accord, is considered by climate activists to be a huge failure. Clinton is the only candidate with deep ties to the financiers and lobbyists of the fossil-fuel industry, on Wall Street and beyond.

Clinton supports the continued exploitation of our nation’s public carbon reserves, while Sanders has introduced legislation that would put an end to fossil-fuel leases on public lands. Sanders and O’Malley actively support the climate divestment movement, while Clinton--  whose campaign and super PAC accept funding from fracking investors and fossil-fuel industry lobbyists --  has not taken a position.

In these early days of the Democratic primary season, however, we’ve been excited to see Clinton take stronger stands on behalf of the climate, coming closer to where Sanders and O’Malley are. We’re liking this primary-- which is why it’s so disappointing that LCV is trying to cut it short.

When November 2016 arrives, the Democratic nominee will be facing a battle-tested Republican who has spent months honing an anti-climate message that can mobilize an electoral army. And the GOP candidate will be backed by deep-pocketed oil, gas, and coal barons who are pumping upwards of a billion dollars into the campaign to ensure their radical agenda dominates the political discourse. We will all need to call out the radical anti-science, anti-American fossil-fuel agenda of the Republicans, and enthusiastically support the candidacy of the Democratic nominee in the general election.

But Clinton hasn’t yet done the work to earn the passionate support of the nation’s climate activists--  and LCV’s rash decision makes it less likely that she ever will.

It is the responsibility of organizations like the League of Conservation Voters to push candidates to adopt strong stances, and to help guide the climate movement to elect the leaders we need. However, LCV has cut short the mobilizing process of democratic engagement and endorsed a candidate whose climate platform it knows full well is insufficient.

Instead of succumbing to the politics of compromise, climate hawks should continue putting the pressure on all of the Democratic candidates to develop stronger, bolder platforms for climate action.

And not just "the politics of compromise," but the intense pressure of corrupt partisans like Chuck Schumer and John Tester at the DSCC, Steve Israel and his band of crooks at the DCCC and, of course, Wasserman Schultz at the DNC. Up and down the Democratic Party and on every level, primaries are being interfered with on behalf of the more corrupt and less progressive candidates. The DSCC, for example demands support for so-called an "ex" Republican like Patrick Murphy of Florida over a proven progressive champion like Alan Grayson, while the DCCC tries shoving conservative garbage down the throats of Iowa primary voters where they're backing another so-called "ex" Republican, Monica Vernon, over the proven progressive former Iowsa state House speaker, Pat Murphy (not to be mixed up with the horrible Patrick Murphy). You want well-vetted, real progressives who will work for the values you care about? You can find them here, candidates for the Senate and candidates for the House.

League Of Conservation Voters Sells Out Again

LCV Climate Change poster child, Susan Collins

The Establishment-oriented LGBT organization, HRC, endorsed Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has an record of studiously ignoring gay equality issues in Maine and voting precisely 50% of the time with conservatives and 50% of the time with normal senators on gay issues in DC. Yesterday Digby explained the tragedy of HRC abandoning one of the LGBT communities most dedicated advocates, Shenna Bellows, on behalf of Collins.

They say that no good deed goes unpunished and nothing illustrates the truth of that old trope more vividly that the Human Rights Campaign endorsing Maine Senator Susan Collins over her Democratic opponent, the stalwart defender of human rights and civil liberties, Shenna Bellows. It wasn't the first time Republicans have been unjustly rewarded with endorsements from national liberal organizations, unfortunately. But there are few Republicans who have been more lauded by people for whom she has consistently done so little than the bucket of lukewarm water known as Susan Collins.

This endorsement was particularly galling. Shenna Bellows is not just another Democrat who supports marriage equality. She has devoted her life to expanding civil rights and civil liberties. In her capacity as the Director of the Maine ACLU she helped lead the way for marriage equality in Maine and was instrumental in getting the Maine Human Rights Act passed. It's a truly bold piece of legislation, one of the strongest anti-discrimination laws in the country, which Bellows promises to bring to the national level. She has said:

The important thing we learned in Maine was to aim big and be persistent. Frankly, Congress could benefit from our example. The debate in Congress has focused for too long on weak versions of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which only covers employment decisions and now has such a big religious-exemption loophole that many activists no longer support the bill. As Ian Thompson wrote for Slate in April, the loophole "opens the door for religiously affiliated organizations to engage in employment discrimination against LGBT people-- for any reason." That's not the stuff big civil-rights advances are made of.

I'm proud to say we've done better in Maine, and I'll do better in Washington. We need a national Human Rights Act along the lines of the Maine Human Rights Act. We need to outlaw discrimination in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and educational opportunity on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation-- once and for all, nationwide, no exceptions. Sen. Al Franken has done good work on this issue, and I can't wait to join him. The LGBT community isn't alone in worrying that its Washington allies are aiming too low.

Many immigration-reform groups rightly wonder not only why Republicans won't support them but why too many Democrats supported a weaker House bill in this Congress than the one they introduced when they were in the majority. We can't fall victim to lower expectations or lesser ambitions, no matter who controls what branch of government. Good policy is good policy, and fighting the wrong legislative fights won't get us where we need to be.

That's the kind of leadership we need so desperately in Washington --- leadership that understands that we are all in this together. If you agree, you can donate to Shenna Bellows' campaign here.

You will not be surprised to learn that Senator Collins is all for that "religious exemption." And her definition of courage is to wait until the nation has largely moved forward before she reluctantly leads from behind: it was only last week that she could summon the nerve to support marriage equality even in principle, much less to act to make it a reality.

As you can see from Shenna Bellows' comments, her approach to basic human rights and liberties stems from her clear, strong set of principles. She doesn't put her finger in the wind, she kicks up a storm and makes things happen. Maine would not have the strong protections and rights available to LGBT citizens that it has today if not for Shenna Bellows. Yet the thanks she gets from the National Human Rights Campaign is an endorsement for her opponent. With friends like these…

Moments after Digby's post appeared, another DC Establishment suck-up group like HRC, League of Conservation Voters, stabbed Shenna in the back and endorsed Collins, just as they had done in 2008 when they backed her against a much more environmentally friendly Democrat, Rep. Tom Allen. Collins won and continued voting against the issues most important to LCV want. Perhaps LCV donors will wake up some day and realize that scam LCV has become.

According to ProgressivePunch, Collins has a lifetime crucial vote score of 39.77 on environmental issues that have come before the Senate. Yes, she's better than Ted Cruz. Is that why LCV donors send checks to the organization? Shenna responded to expected endorsement by reminding LCV that they had just placed Maine State Sen. Troy Jackson on their Dirty Dozen List for a record that isn't even as bad as Collins'!

"I am running for United States Senate because we need bolder leadership to confront climate change before it's too late," Bellows said. "Climate change is one of most serious threats confronting our nation. Protecting the status quo won't protect the environment for the next generation. I've been a consistent voice for more renewable energy, stronger clean air and water standards and an end to the Keystone XL Pipeline project, and I'll proudly stack my environmental values against Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins and any other Washington Republican."

"You have to ask why in this race a lifetime D grade merits recognition," said Portland City Councilman and former State Rep. Jon Hinck. "It's disappointing to see LCV fall into the incumbent protection trap. Half-a-loaf environmentalism is not half good enough. Our air and water don't care about political parties and legacy ties. Every candidate should be considered on the merits of what he or she would do to keep our environment clean. Energy and global warming challenges make this a critical time for Maine and the entire country. Shenna Bellows, unlike the incumbent, has the vision and drive to meet those challenges."

A Huffington Post article last week pointed out many that Maine environmentalists objected to some groups' continued support of Collins despite her low lifetime rating. Emily Figdor, the director of Environment Maine, was quoted in that story saying Collins "has not had a consistent record on climate change. It's high time she really stands up and starts to lead on the issue."

In 2011 Collins introduced the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, which a June 24, 2012, op-ed in the Lewiston Sun-Journal pointed out was "roundly condemned by environmentalists as an attempt to gut EPA regulations intended to clean up the nation’s dirtiest industrial power plants-- many of them fueled by biomass, and several right here in Maine. She then tried to attach her legislation to the unrelated transportation bill [in the spring of 2012], an effort that only narrowly failed."

As far back as 2009, Collins led the fight to eliminate tens of billions of dollars in clean energy funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Among other cuts, her plan would have eliminated:

• $4.5 billion in renewable energy loan guarantees at the Department of Energy
• $1.4 billion in research grants and facilities construction at the National Science Foundation
• $1 billion from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects at the Department of Energy
• $300 million in laboratory upgrades at the Department of Agriculture.

If you live in Maine, you have an opportunity to vote this November to replace Collins with Shenna Bellows. If you live anywhere else in the U.S., you can still help-- right here. Yesterday, Sean Sullivan explained to Washington Post readers how Collins can keep winning in Maine, but it's a trend that we can stop… now.

The endorsements Collins just won amount to a lesson about the power of incumbency. She is very popular back home and considered a safe bet to win reelection. By offering her their support, groups from the left such as LCV and HRC can bolster the odds that she will support their causes in the future. By opposing Collins and supporting a long-shot incumbent against her, they would do themselves no favors in the long run, assuming she wins another term.

…The general election threat-- albeit a minor one at this point-- presented by Bellows may have forced Collins to stake out a harder position on gay marriage now and roll out the LCV endorsement sooner than she otherwise would. But she was always going to emphasize her crossover appeal sooner or later.

Craven groups like HRC and LCV empower Collins and help her lay claim to the term moderate, but her friend and ally Rick Santorum put it best when he told right-wing donors that Collins may vote moderate sometimes, but at least she is a team player who "always plays with the team and never plays against the conservative side even if she has to give the liberals a vote because she's from Maine."

Calling Out The Worst Members Of Congress On Their Environmental Votes

The League of Conservation Voters may be, effectively, a political adjunct of the DCCC when it comes to backing House candidates, but their annual scorecard on how incumbents vote, is a very accurate reflection of which Members of Congress are working to save the planet and which are working to allow predatory profiteers like the Koch brothers to destroy it. The average score in the House this year was a dismal 43%, one of the lowest scores ever. Anyone aiming to do well on the Koch brothers' Americans For Prosperity scorecard that we looked at this morning. Ron Johnson's 100% rating for the Koch's translated to an 8% rating for LCV, same as Marco Rubio's, who also got 100% for the Kochs.

Over in the House, there were 46 congressmembers with a score of zero. All 46 of them voted against the environment on every single opportunity. All of them were Republicans of the most reactionary variety:

• Jo Bonner (R-AL)
• Martha Roby (R-AL)
• Mike Rogers (R-AL)
• Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
• Tim Griffin (R-AR)
• Steve Womack (R-AR)
• Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)
• David Valadao (R-CA)
• Devin Nunes (R-CA)
• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
• Buck McKeon (R-CA)
• Gary Miller (R-CA)
• Ken Calvert (R-CA)
• John Campbell (R-CA)
• Darrell Issa (R-CA)
• Steve Southerland (R-FL)
• Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)
• John Mica (R-FL)
• Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
• Tom Rooney (R-FL)
• Mike Simpson (R-ID)
• Aaron Schock (R-IL)
• Jackie Walorski (R-IN)
• Susan Brooks (R-IN)
• Todd Young (R-IN)
• Steve King (R-IA)
• Andy Harris (R-MD)
• John Kline (R-MN)
• Alan Nunnelee (R-MS)
• Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
• Renee Ellmers (R-NC)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
• Bob Latta (R-OH)
• Bill Johnson (R-OH)
• Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
• Greg Walden (R-OR)
• Tim Murphy (R-PA)
• Tom Rice (R-SC)
• Phil Roe (R-TN)
• Diane Black (R-TN)
• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
• Ralph Hall (R-TX)
• Joe Barton (R-TX)
• Michael Conaway (R-TX)
• Pete Olson (R-TX)
• Blake Farenthold (R-TX)

The DCCC uses these to trick naive environment supporters to contribute to candidates who are as bad as Republicans on crucial environmental issues

The DCCC has given free reelection passes to almost all of these miscreants. Almost none of them need to worry about a Democratic opponent going up on TV with ads talking about their environmental voting record. In fact, in one of the few cases where the DCCC is running someone against one of the GOP zeroes-- Bill Johnson of Ohio-- their handpicked candidate, Jennifer Garrison, has as bad a record on environmental concerns as Johnson does! Her own law firm specializes in helping gas companies obtain fracking permits and she has a long, cozy-- and financially remunerative-- relationship with Big Coal. The only interest the DCCC has in environmental issues is to use them cynically to trick grassroots donors into contributing. The Democratic incumbents with the worst LCV scores this year were, from bad to worst:

• Nick Rahall (Blue Dog-WV)- 46%
• Filemon Vela (New Dem- TX)- 46%
• Sanford Bishop (New Dem-GA)- 39%
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)- 36%
• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)- 32%
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- 29%
• Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)- 25%
• John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)- 21%
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 14%

Jamie Henn of 350.org, writing for MSNBC last week, pointed to the serious flaws in corporate Democratic thought on Keystone XL. "The conventional wisdom," he wrote, "on the political impact of a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline is this: President Obama should approve the project to provide cover for oil industry-friendly, middle-of-the-road Democrats who are in tight races in 2014.

Here’s the reality: a Keystone XL approval isn’t going to help these candidates any more than the administration’s past handouts to the fossil fuel industry. Big Oil and its allies are planning another round of major spending against Democrats this election cycle, and a thumbs up on Keystone wouldn’t slow them down a bit.

In many ways, it would just speed them up. Take the Koch Brothers for instance. Ty Matsdorf, a strategist for Senate Majority PAC told Politico recently, “The Koch Brothers are using an unprecedented amount of early money to flood these Senate races and try to buy the Senate.” With their major holdings in pipelines and refineries, the Koch’s stand to make billions if Keystone XL is approved. They’re unlikely to use it to help friends of Obama.

A Keystone XL approval could also turn off the very voters Obama and his allies hope to engage to advance a Democratic agenda. Years of protest have turned the pipeline into a symbolic test of the President’s commitment to address climate change. Despite the State Department’s recent back-flips to claim the pipeline wouldn’t have a dramatic environmental impact, the nation’s top climate scientists have made it crystal clear in reports and letters to the President that Keystone XL is a climate disaster. If the pipeline goes forward it will send a clear signal that the President isn’t serious about taking on the crisis.

That would be bad news for Democrats who hope to turn out the youth vote in 2014 and beyond. In a recent poll, 70% of young voters said that support for action on climate change will affect who they vote for, and 73% said they’d vote against a politician who wasn’t addressing the problem.

This afternoon, police rounded up hundreds of young demonstrators in front of the White House who do not want to see their world destroyed by corporate greed in the form of the Keystone XL Pipeline. It was the largest act of youth civil disobedience at the White House in a generation. "President Obama has a choice to make. He can side with Big Oil and approve Keystone XL, tarnishing his environmental legacy and getting little political benefit in the process. Or he can stand with the generation of young people that helped power him into office and reject this XL climate disaster. It's time to make the right call."

Meanwhile… back to the LCV scorecard for a moment. Were there any environment-friendly Republicans? No, not really. Nine Republicans scored better than the worst Democrat, Collin Peterson, but all of them had abysmal, failing grades:

• Chris Gibson (R-NY)- 43%
• Chris Smith (R-NJ)- 29%
• Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA)- 25%
• Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)- 25%
• Leonard Lance (R-NJ)- 21%
• Frank Wolf (R-VA)- 21%
• Walter Jones (R-NC)- 18%
• Jon Runyan (R-NJ)- 18%
• Justin Amash (R-MI)- 18%

As long as we're on the subject of LCV, it's worth noting that often back Democratic hacks with terrible scores, acting as an enabling operation for the DCCC. Last cycle, for example, they endorsed anti-environment Democrats like Ron Barber and Pete Gallego, which ultimately devalues their effectiveness. This cycle, they had the good sense to endorse environmental hero Brian Schatz over corporate shill Colleen Hanabusa in the Hawaii Senate race. "Schatz," they wrote in their endorsement press release, "has made addressing climate change and investing in clean energy a top priority throughout his career and will continue this strong leadership in the U.S. Senate."

“Brian Schatz is a lifelong environmentalist and a proven leader on climate change policy,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski.  “He has championed clean energy initiatives that have put Hawaii at the forefront of utilizing renewable energy and reducing dependence on petroleum. We will need his continued leadership in the U.S. Senate.”

…Schatz has led on climate change and environmental policies since his time serving in the state legislature. While serving as Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor, Schatz helped implement the state’s landmark clean energy initiative, which has helped the state get 18 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Schatz also spearheaded Hawaii’s work with the Pacific Island nations to invest in smart grid projects, and helped to develop the largest wind energy facility in Hawaii.

Schatz is in a unique position to make progress on environmental legislation, as he is a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, as well as Chair of the Subcommittee on Water and Power. Already, during his short tenure in the U.S. Senate, Schatz has distinguished himself by supporting an effort to put a price on carbon pollution, which is responsible for climate change and the extreme weather we’ve experienced in recent years.

Which Congressmembers Are The Most Dedicated To Polluting The Water We Drink And The Air We Breath?

Maybe you read yesterday that the water in tens of thousands of West Virginia homes is still polluted. No perp walks for any of the culprits… certainly not in West Virginia. Kiley Kroh reported at Think Progress that 40% of homes in the area of the toxic spill are still testing positive for the chemicals that polluted the Elk River. Schools have been forced to close down and Evan Hansen, principal at Downstream Strategies, the environmental consulting firm that carried out the testing said that "people are still reporting smells and some people are reporting reactions with their skin, so it seems clear that in some locations, the water isn’t clean yet.”

Though West Virginia American Water gave its customers the green light to begin flushing their systems and using the water several weeks ago, none of the state and federal officials testifying at a congressional hearing on Monday would confirm that the water is indeed safe.

…Over the course of the past month, government officials have not been testing the water in private homes and businesses. After initially brushing off the idea in a press conference last week, Governor Tomblin “later directed his spill-response team to come up with a plan for testing the water in a representative sample of the 100,000 homes and businesses impacted by the leak,” the Charleston Gazette reported.

The sampling carried out by Downstream Strategies and other private companies is only being done in households that can afford it, Hansen points out, making it all the more important that the state take necessary steps to assure the public they are actively and transparently working to ensure the safety of the water.

After a month of unanswered questions, West Virginians are running out of patience. When asked if there was any potential silver lining that could come out of the incident, 21-year-old Charleston resident Kellie Raines said simply, “I would hope so but at this point, I really don’t see it. ”

I guess, though, that a silver lining would be that West Virginia defeat all the anti-environmental elected officials in their state-- which is basically all of them. The League of Conservation Voters released their 2013 scorecard yesterday. The state's two senators are both Democrats, conservative Joe Manchin, who had an abysmal 38% and the more mainstream Jay Rockefeller had an 85%. The 3 West Virginia House Members had far worse scores. Shelley Moore Capito, who would like to move up to the Senate, has a shocking 4%. The other Republican, David McKinley, one of the coal industry's worst shills in government, had a 7%. And Blue Dog Nick Rahall ended up with a pitiful (for a Democrat) 46%.

Last year Joe Manchin got more money from Big Coal than any other Senator-- $222,050, almost twice as much as his nearest competitor. Senator Rockefeller only got $8,500. Over in the House, McKinley got almost as much, $221,778, second only to John Boehner ($248,167). And Capito got the 5th greatest amount if bribes in the House-- $97,436 (and so far this year, Big Coal has given her another $165,275). Rahall was the 20th biggest recipient ($34,300).

You can check out your own Member's score and the breakdown at this link but here are the House Members who scored 100% and the House Members who scored 0. Yes, zero on the environment! Can you imagine?

There were only 3 Reps who scored 100% (although there were dozens of Democrats who scored 96%, which means they voted "wrong" on one vote.

• Jared Huffman (D-CA)
• Scott Peters (D-CA)
• Linda Sánchez (D-CA)

But a shitload of Republicans had zeros-- wrong on everything!

• Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
• Joe "oily Joe" Barton (R-TX)
• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
• Diane Black (R-TN)
• Jo Bonner (R-AL)
• Susan Brooks (R-IN)
• Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
• Ken Calvert (R-CA)
• John Campbell (R-CA)
• Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
• Mike Conaway (R-TX)
• Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)
• Renee Ellmers (R-NC)
• Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
• Blake Farenthold (R-TX)
• Tim Griffin (R-AR)
• Ralph Hall (R-TX)
• Andy Harris (R-MD)
• Darrell Issa (R-CA)
• Bob Johnson (R-OH)
• Steve King (R-IA)
• John Kline (R-MN)
• Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)
• Bob Latta (R-OH)
• Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
• Buck McKeon (R-CA)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
• John Mica (R-FL)
• Gary Miller (R-CA)
• Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
• Tim Murphy (R-PA)
• Devin Nunes (R-CA)
• Alan Nunnelee (R-MS)
• Pete Olson (R-TX)
• Tom Rice (R-SC)
• Martha Roby (R-AL)
• Phil Roe (R-TN)
• Mike Rogers (R-AL)
• Tom Rooney (R-FL)
• Aaron Schock (R-IL)
• Mike Simpson (R-ID)
• Steve Southerland (R-FL)
• David Valadao (R-CA)
• Greg Walden (R-OR)
• Jackie Walorski (R-IN)
• Steve Womack (R-AR)
• Todd Young (R-IN)

A Country We Should All Be Proud Of

As part of it's Independence Day greetings, Headcount pointed out that America isn't a perfect country but rather a work in progress. "As American citizens, it's our job to point it in the right direction. That's the principal it was founded on 236 years ago." And they're doing that the way they know how to do it best-- combining music with democracy. And this summer they have 4 bands on the road making that connection: Wilco, Phish, Dave Matthews Band and Furthur. You can follow along online at the HeadCount blog which new tour journals are posted every few days.

Wilco's leg is part of Patagonia's and the League of Conservation Voter's Vote the Environment promotion. LCV's offers a record of every member of the House and Senate, based, respectively on how Members voted on 35 and 11 crucial roll call votes. They list every House Member and every Senate Member with their scores. Wonder who the best friends and worst enemies of the environment were this year? The best in the House (scores of 100%):

Tim Bishop (D-NY)
Judy Chu (D-CA)
David Cicilline (D-RI)
Hensen Clarke (D-MI)
Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Gerald Connolly (D-VA)
Diana DeGette (D-CO)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Janice Hahn (D-CA)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Mike Honda (D-CA)
Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Steve Israel (D-NY)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
John Lewis (D-GA)
Jim Moran (D-VA)
Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Bobby Scott (D-VA)
Jose Serrano (D-NY)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

And the worst in the House (scores of 3% or lower):

Mark Amodei (R-NV)
Dan Benishek (R-MI)
Paul Broun (R-GA)
Francisco Canseco (R-TX)
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Tom Graves (R-GA)
Wally Herger (R-CA)
Doug Lamborn (R-CO)
Billy Long (R-MO)
Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Paul Ryan (R-WI)-- Ayn Rand reveled in filth and pollution
Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
Bob Turner (R-NY)
Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Kevin Yoder (R-KS)

In the Senate, there were no really difficult votes and it was very easy, even for corporate whores, to get perfect scores; there were 30 of them-- Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Cooner (D-DE), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kay Hagan (D-NC), John Kerry (D-MA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Joe Lieberman (CT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Harry Reid (D-NV), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mark Udall (D-CO), Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jim Webb (D-VA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

And there were 13 perfect zeros-- Roy Blunt (R-MO), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Dan Coats (R-IN), John Ensign (R-NV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Dick Lugar (R-IN), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Thune (R-SD) and Roger Wicker (R-MS).

Meanwhile Dave Matthews Band is doing a similar thing with Volkswagen, registering rock'n'roll lovers all over the South. Phish's own charitable arm, The Waterwheel Foundation, is coordinating Phish's efforts, which includes there first full-on tour since 2004. And Furthur (which features Phil Lesh and Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead) has been registering the most voters of all so far.

As you know, Rick Scott's GOP passed some laws in Florida that pretty much put voter registration groups out of business in the state. Just in time a Federal judge threw out some key provisions of the law. So... the Florida leg of the tour is back on. On July 18-21 they’ll be registering voters at Dave Matthews Band shows in W. Palm Beach and Tampa, and there are more concerts to be announced.

They're also registering voters at almost every music festival in America between now and the election. The next one is the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA this week and then everything from the Newport Folk Festival (with Wilco) at the end of the month, Farm Aid in Pennsylvania with Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews in September and Austin City Limits in the middle of October in Zilker Park with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack White, Neil Young and the Black Keys to Lollapalooza in Grant Park (Chicago) August 3, 4 and 5 (with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Keys, Black Sabbath, Jack White, Sigur Ros, Doctor Dog, The Shins and tons of other bands). And that's just a few. You can check out the whole list of festivals here. Prepare to register to vote... or suffer the consequences.

League Of Conservation Voters Endorses Matt Cartwright Against Blue Dog Tim Holden

There's less than a week before primary day in Pennsylvania and, according to two consecutive polls, progressive challenger Matt Cartwright is leading reactionary and corrupt Blue Dog Tim Holden. It's the only race in the country where the Democrats have a plausible shot at replacing a dogged ally of Boehner's and Cantor's with a real Democrat. Even in Holden's blood red bastion in the newly redrawn district, conservative Schuylkill Co., way down south and unrelated to the rest of teh bright blue northeast Pennsylvania district, longtime Holden supporters are sick of him, especially Democrats.

Democrats in this Holden stronghold weren’t enthusiastic about re-electing Holden to an 11th term. Democrats such as Vickie Lord, a longtime tour guide at Pottsville’s Yuengling Brewery, knows Holden as the “local boy” who always aired positive advertisements. But the negative ad wars have worn on her, and now she’s not sure for whom she’ll vote in next week’s primary.

“Sometimes people get old and stagnant in their ways,” she said. “I’m not opposed to new ideas, new faces, refreshing things every once in a while. Just because you’re there 20 years doesn’t mean you should be there 20 more. Maybe it’s time for a change.”

And Vickie isn't alone on being turned off to Holden's brutal barrage of vicious negative attacks against Cartwright-- who has waged an entirely positive campaign. Former state Rep. Jim Wansacz, currently Chair of the Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners, is bucking the Democratic Machine and endorsing Cartwright today. And today the local MoveOn.org chapter also came on board for Cartwright. Having persuaded MoveOn nationally to back Cartwright, the local chapter will be engaged in a tremendous Get Out the Vote effort next Tuesday.

As we saw the other day, that great champion of women's rights and warrior against the "Republican" War Against Women, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, gave $2,000 to anti-Choice fanatic/anti-bith control freak Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA) a $2,000 contribution. Debbie, Jr-- Allyson Schwartz-- jumped in with another grand. They could have easily sat it out while lifelong Democrat and pro-Choice progressive Matt Cartwright defeated Holden and made the House Democratic caucus more Democratic by one. But Wasserman Schultz and Allyson Schwartz wanted to prove, just one more time, that they have no principles whatsoever-- and that the battle over women's health is just a convenient cudgel they can wield against their partisan enemies, the Republicans (unless they live in South Florida, in which case they are forgiven).

The League of Conservation Voters, on the other hand, is based on very transparent principles. Their main concern is saving the environment from devastation and destruction. Tim Holden has a long and putrid record of standing with Republicans and the corporations who bribe him-- for devastation and for devastation. Blue America has billboards up all over PA-17 based on the key role Holden played in helping the GOP pass the Halliburton Loophole which allows for fracking. The LCV has taken the battle to the small screen with a massive $230,000 ad buy. You can watch the 30-second ad above.

The LCV didn't mention Lee Fang's report on the latest Holden shenanigans in the effusive endorsement in the PA-17 race. “Matt Cartwright," said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski, "has fought to hold corporate polluters accountable to protect Pennsylvanians from the hazardous chemicals released in natural gas extraction. LCV Action Fund is proud to endorse Matt Cartwright because he understands that the policies needed to grow America’s economy and keep our competitive edge are the same policies that will protect the air we breathe and the water we drink for generations to come.” I think when he reads Fang's report he'll go into orbit-- so would most Americans.

Holden, a member of the pro-corporate Blue Dog caucus, appears to be raising last minute campaign funds using a new bill that will allow agricultural giants in the mid-Atlantic region to continue to dump pollution into the Chesapeake Bay. While Cartwright picks up a number of public interest endorsements, Holden appears to be parlaying his polluter bill into political support.

Rod Snyder recently hosted a fundraising event for Holden in the offices of Tri-State Strategies, a Pennsylvania lobbying and consulting firm. Snyder is the president of the national Democratic club called Young Democrats of America, whose bylaws prohibit providing “official endorsements to any candidate in a contested primary election,” so presumably Snyder hosted the event in his personal, not his YDA, capacity.

But Snyder also happens to be a lobbyist for the National Corn Growers Association. According to the NCGA’s latest disclosure filing, which was submitted to the Senate late last year, Snyder has been working on developing a new Chesapeake Bay bill that would prevent the EPA from using the Clean Water Act to create a multi-state solution for dealing with industrial farm run-off. The issue has been quite contentious, with many big ag interests working to undercut the EPA. Snyder has not responded to our request for comment.

And in March, Holden came to the rescue of industrial farm interests with a bill he introduced along with Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). Holden’s bill would prevent the EPA “from implementing the long-awaited, court-ordered Chesapeake Bay restoration plan known as the Chesapeake TMDL (total maximum daily load).” The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Doug Siglin says Holden’s bill would “undermine the pollution limits currently in place, derail clean-up efforts, and undercut the federal government’s role in making sure that all Americans have access to clean, swimmable, fishable waters.”

Holden’s bill bailing out industrial farm operations hasn’t escaped noticed from big lobbyists. Republic Report reviewed recently filed FEC disclosures and noticed an interesting pattern:

– On March 7, Holden introduced his bill to kill EPA efforts to regulate cross-state industrial farm pollution into the Chesapeake Bay.

– On March 12, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives gave Holden $1,000.

– On March 26, the National Turkey Federation PAC gave Holden $2,000 (in addition to $1,000 earlier this cycle).

– On March 26, the Cotton Growers PAC gave Holden $1,000.

– On March 26, Dean Foods Company PAC gave Holden $2,500 (in addition to $2,000 already given to Holden this cycle).

– On March 30, the National Chicken Council PAC gave Holden $2,000 (in addition to $1,000 given to Holden earlier in the cycle).

– On March 30, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association gave Holden $2,000.

– On April 11, the National Corn Growers PAC gave Holden $2,500.

– On April 13, the pork industry’s Pork PAC gave Holden $3,000.

Meanwhile, the American Postal Workers Union based in Scranton (Local 101) has no choice but to stick to its principles-- the principle of survival in particular. Existentially threatened by conservatives who want to shut down the post office, the postal workers aren't playing the DC Dems' little footsie game with conservatives who call themselves Democrats. Their decision to endorse Matt Cartwright over Holden came after a unanimous vote of the local membership. As Kevin Gallagher, President of Local 101, explained, “We need someone who will fight for our Area and middle class families and to keep decent paying jobs in our Area... including the Scranton mail procession plant.”

Ed Potosnak Wants YOU To Pick A Pro-Environment Candidate He Should Give His Money To

As you've probably read by now, New Jersey progressive candidate Ed Potosnak withdrew his challenge to Leonard Lance yesterday to take a job as the executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. He was one of Blue America's favorite candidates, both in the 2010 cycle and again this year. We'll miss him, but we know he will accomplish a lot in his new job. Here's what he told me last night when he came up with the idea for this contest to help out a Blue America candidate.

I have always been a strong environmentalist. As a young adult my passion for nature manifested itself by guiding my choices as an individual. As an adult I turned my commitment to the environment into political advocacy, because protecting our natural resources is bigger than recycling and requires strong pro-environment policies. It is urgent that we address global climate change and take measurable steps to safeguard our water, air, land and wildlife for our future generations.

New Jersey faces significant challenges in cleaning up and safeguarding our environment. I am extremely proud to be leading the NJ League of Conservation Voters and working with our diverse members to provide justice for an environment that cannot defend itself. With our help, our state will serve as a role model for other similarly challenged communities throughout world.

Ed has some extra money in his campaign war chest, and he's offered to give the maximum amount allowable from one campaign to another, $2,000, to the Blue America candidate who gets the most contributions in the next 24 hours. So take a look at our ActBlue page and contribute-- whether a dollar or $1,000, it still counts as one "vote"-- and the candidate who gets the most "votes" will get a $2,000 dollar check from Ed's campaign. Happily, all of the Blue America candidates are pro-environment, and all of them are running on platforms similar to Ed's in terms of protecting clean air and water and America's natural beauty.

"This is a truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Ed said to us about his new job, explaining his withdrawal from the campaign. “I look forward to building on the grassroots energy of the diverse membership of NJLCV to promote nonpartisan solutions to our environmental challenges... I will be working every day to ensure our children and future generations have clean water and air, as well open space." Every one of these Blue America candidates is committed to the same vision for our country's future.

The rules for this contest: Just contribute any amount to any candidate on this page and it will count as a vote for that candidate. And yes, you can vote for more than one if you want to. In 24 hours we count up all the votes (again, not the dollar amounts, but the votes), and the candidate with the most gets the check from Ed's campaign.

Do You Ever Get The Idea That Big Oil Runs The Country?

A lot of people noticed that news of the Libyan civil war had barely hit the newspapers when the price of gasoline in our neighborhood stations started steadily shooting up. Odd, many of us thought, since that gasoline came from crude that had been pumped and refined and shipped a month ago when the price was much lower. In fact, the price wasn't even higher yet, just starting to be driven higher by unregulated commodities speculators. And the many of us who ruminated on that were proven right when the Oil Industry explained patiently that although the price of crude has dropped by a lot, prices at the pump will not drop-- and may even continue to rise a bit-- because the high-priced oil is in the pipeline. Makes sense.

It would have also made sense that some Oil Industry top executives would have been indicted, tried and punished for their crimes over the years. Not doing so, is absolute permission for them to continue robbing us blind. And we don't even have to go all the way back to when Standard Oil was in bed with a rising young political figure in pre-War Germany (yes, the Adolf guy... but there was no way to do that without arresting prominent American traitors with household names like Rockefeller, Bush and Dulles). Just go back into the really recent past-- remember the ExxonValdez? The boat ran aground and spill oil all over. Everyone knew expensive lawsuits were coming so all the oil companies-- what a coincidence, since price fixing and collusion is clearly illegal-- jacked up their prices by a third, claiming a shortage of crude. Good thing it wasn't two boats!

I know you've been hearing this from me for years, so let me quote someone else, the nonprofit watchdog group, Public Campaign, who also tracks the legalistic bribes our Members of Congress takes from the corporations they're supposed to oversee and regulate and protect us from. Last week when the House Republicans were determined to pass H.R. 1230 to restart offshore oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico, Democrats responded with a Motion to Recommit that would have required that all the oil and gas pumped would be offered for sale in the U.S. and not go to China and India or wherever Big Oil could get the most profits from it. "If oil is taken from land owned by the American taxpayer, it should benefit American families. Democrats want to lower the price of gas, put consumers first, and strengthen our economic recovery," is how Nancy Pelosi explained it. It may sound reasonable but it lost 171-238, only one Republican, Walter Jones (NC), crossing the aisle to vote YES, while 4 Democrats crossed in the other direction. When the underlying legislation-- to force through the leasing-- came to a vote, it passed 266-149-- two Republicans, Jones and Key West Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, joining the Democrats, while 33 of the most corrupt Democrats in the House crossed the aisle to curry favor with Big Oil, like for example, virtually all the Blue Dogs.

U.S. House members who defeated a measure to begin debate on legislation to end certain subsidies for oil companies received five times more in campaign contributions, on average, from the oil and gas industry in the 2010 election cycle than those who voted to proceed with the motion, according to campaign watchdog Public Campaign Action Fund.

This afternoon, House Democrats tried to pass a motion that would allow a vote on a provision to end certain subsidies to oil companies, but it was defeated 241-171, with just seven Democrats joining with Republicans to oppose the measure.

“Americans are struggling with the high cost of filling their gas tanks, but some members of Congress seemed only concerned with their Big Oil donors,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director for Public Campaign Action Fund.

According to the analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics:

• House members who voted to continue the subsidies received, on average, five times more money in 2010 from oil and gas interests. Those voting to block debate received $36,066, on average, in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests. Those who voted to begin debate received, on average, $7,192 in campaign contributions from the industry.

• Overall, members that voted to continue the subsidies received more than $8.7 million in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests in 2010 while those opposed raised just $1.2 million.

• 16 of the 18 U.S. House members that received over $100,000 in campaign contributions from the industry in 2010 voted to block debate. One voted to proceed and a second did not vote.

...The five largest U.S. oil companies-- Exxon, Conoco Phillips, BP, Shell, and Chevron-- made over $30 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2011, yet they continue to get generous government subsidies and tax breaks. Today’s House vote would’ve ended these unnecessary handouts.

“Voting to keep these wasteful subsidies for oil companies might be good for campaign bank accounts, but it won’t solve our deficit,” said Donnelly. “Members of Congress should be standing with their constituents instead of their big oil donors.”

I'd like to point out the dozen most Oil-corrupted Members of the House. These 12 have taken the most in direct, legalistic bribes from Big Oil in their political careers. All of them-- surprise, surprise-- voted against the interests of their constituents and for the interests of the Big Oil companies that bribe them:

Joe Barton (R-TX)- $1,510,280
Steve Pearce (R-NM)- $1,188,092
Don Young (R-AK)- $1,000,913
Mike Conway (R-TX)- $678,818
Pete Sessions (R-TX)- $677,164
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)- $651,310
Kay Granger (R-TX)- $646,307
John Sullivan (R-OK)- $596,000
Ralph Hall (R-TX)- $549,426
Kevin Brady (R-TX)- $489,947
John Culberson (R-TX)- $456,761
Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)- $448,222

The bill referred to above, the one that was meant to strip away the billion in tax subsidies to the mega-profitable oil industries was written by Tim Bishop (D-NY) would have resulted in $12 billion in savings for taxpayers over the next decade. Conservatives, who cry a lot about the deficit when it means paying a living wage to teachers and other public servants but never find any tax giveaways to their Big Business contributors too outrageous, disagreed. “We’re in this situation because of this administration’s policies that have shut off energy supply,” Rep Steve Scalise (R-LA), one of Congress' most blatant Oil Industry whores, said on the floor before the vote. He argued that the oil industry would pass on their extra costs to consumers if their tax subsidies are repealed. Just a week ago, both Speaker John Boehner and Budget Chairman Paul Ryan said publicly that they thought Big Oil should pay their fair share. I guess they must have felt a lot of pressure because they both voted against their constituents and for Big Oil on all three votes last week. Watch Ryan and some of his sleaziest colleagues in action:



[Time to dump Paul Ryan? Oh, absolutely-- and we have an Act Blue page dedicated just to that project. His own read on this is a lot like most Americans': "The GOP (greedy oil people) keep fleecing the American people by supporting the special interests of Oil and Gas companies with subsidies. This is not a path to fiscal responsibility, but a continuation of corporate welfare." Voters in WI-1 will have a real choice in 2012.]

Meanwhile the League of Conservation Voters sent out an e-mail to their list this week that I want to share with anyone not on that list. "Enough is enough," they begin.

ExxonMobil has reported 1st quarter profits of nearly $11 billion. Shell announced $6.9 billion in profits. BP earned over $5 billion during the first three months of the year.

Meanwhile Americans across the country are struggling with near-record prices at the pump.

And do you know the worst part? While the Big Oil companies rake in obscene profits, they’re also getting billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies.

Tell Congress: It’s time to end Big Oil handouts. Click here to add your name to the petition.

Over the past decade, the big five oil companies-- BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell-- have enjoyed more than $900 billion in profits. Let me repeat that. Since 2001, the world’s biggest oil companies have made over $900 billion in profits.

At the same time, these oil companies benefit from more than $4 billion in special tax breaks every year. Why are we subsidizing one of the most profitable industries? Why does ExxonMobil get a tax break while we get stuck paying higher gas prices?

The House of Representatives has already cast several votes this year related to ending oil industry subsidies, but each time Big Oil’s congressional backers successfully beat back those efforts. In fact, pro-polluter lawmakers in the House are instead pushing irresponsible drilling that puts our economy and our environment at risk-- demonstrating their energy policy is simple: oil above all.

But momentum is building for action. Senate Majority Leader Reid has said that the Senate may vote as soon as next week on legislation that would strip the biggest oil companies of the government handouts they enjoy.