"a Godfather of Green"

Another example of an idiot and, what a surprise, a republican.

LeMonton

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Hall of Shame: Mitch McConnell

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell earns a third spot in the Hall of Shame for his blatant pandering to oil companies, for which he’s been amply rewarded with campaign cash. It’s no surprise to find a wealthy Republican Senator in bed with oil barons, but McConnell’s recent decision to call himself an environmental leader adds an extra element of shamefulness to his already disgraceful behavior.

Over the course of his career, McConnell has received more than half a million dollars in campaign contributions from the oil and gas lobbyists who look to him for help with troublesome bills. In 2006, McConnell supported a $5 billion tax windfall for the industry. He even went so far as to raise an objection in the Senate that led to the cancellation of a Live Earth benefit concert.

Here’s what Mitch McConnell’s hometown paper, the Courier-Journal, had to say about one of the Senator’s latest “green” efforts:


Editorial: McConnell Brought GOP Senate and Bush White House Together On Behalf of Oil Companies.
“In an oily speech on the floor after passage of a weakened energy bill, Kentucky's Mitch McConnell described what happened this way: ‘We recognized here in the Senate that the House bill couldn't pass the Senate and wouldn't be signed into law. So we fixed it. And now it will.’ He unctuously thanked colleagues for their hard work. He slathered on the praise, claiming, ‘I'm extremely pleased that we're about to show the American people we still have it in us to come together as a body and achieve consensus on an issue that affects all of us.’ Actually it's the Republican Senate he controls and the White House he cultivates that came together -- on behalf of the oil industry and the utility interests, by blocking the restoration of $13 billion in taxes on fabulous petroleum profits and shielding the power companies from a requirement to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable resources. …But the real winners were the lobbyists for big Republican campaign givers, who succeeded in blocking the restoration of billions in taxes on the big oil companies, which are squeezing American consumers for more than $100 billion per year in profits, thanks to huge price hikes at the pump. Had that tax provision survived, the proceeds would have financed clean energy development. Also falling before the pressure of lobbyists was a requirement that utilities produce 15 percent of their electricity by wind, solar and other renewable means by 2020. This was a huge victory for the operators of dirty coal-fired plants in the Midwest and South. This is what Mitch McConnell and George W. Bush did for Big Energy, and did to the rest of us. As long as Sen. McConnell can block action on future-friendly legislation by denying the Democrats 60-vote margins, this obstructionism will continue. …Sen. McConnell and President Bush are yesterday's heroes, not tomorrow's champions.”

Given his cozy relationship with the oil companies, and his 0% rating from the League of Conservation Voters, McConnell isn’t exactly known for his environmentally-friendly ways. But that hasn’t stopped McConnell from launching a new television ad calling the Senator “a Godfather of Green.”

For not only pushing the oil companies’ agendas and taking their campaign cash, but for hypocritically claiming to be an environmentalist, we congratulate Senator McConnell on his induction into the Hall of Shame.