Hogar / Medios de comunicación / Upton Watch

Upton Watch

febrero 2, 2011

Rolling back crucial environmental protections…

Meet Representative Fred Upton (R-MI), the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Since being elected to his thirteenth term in Congress, Chairman Upton has gone through a climate turnaround so extreme that he was questioned by Fox News. He has claimed to be unconvinced by science about carbon dioxide pollution, declared war on life-saving Clean Air Act standards, promised to nullify a Supreme Court decision that would enable the EPA to crack down on big polluters, and staffed his committee with lobbyists. With Upton’s hand on the gavel, polluters will continue to prioritize profits over public health.

Now, despite an 800,000 gallon spill from a tar sands pipeline in his district just last year, Upton is leading the charge to force the State Department to approve the Keystone XL pipeline without taking necessary environmental precautions.

…And taking lobbyist money to do it.

Dirty energy industry lobbyists have been courting to Rep. Upton since he became a contender for the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. According to OpenSecrets.org, Upton’s top donor in 2010, giving $43,800, was Utah-based nuclear waste company EnergySolutions. Additionally, DTE Energy donated $26,400, Koch Industries gave $20,000, and Entergy Corp and Edison Electric Institute each gave $13,500. Considering his cozy relationship with oil industry lobbyists, it is no wonder that he has had so much support from polluters.

El Washington Post quoted one oil lobbyist saying, “I think our interests and his and the Republican conference’s align, especially on EPA stuff.”