In the new Republican controlled congress Democrat Henry Waxman the current Energy and Commerce Chairman will be leaving that post. The House Energy and Commerce Committee oversees legislation related to issues including the supply and delivery of energy, public health, and air quality and environmental health.
Republican Congressmen John Shimkus (Illinois), Joe Barton (Texas), Fred Upton (Michigan) and Cliff Stearns (Florida) are all vying for the chairmanship.All four Republicans are clinging to their old familiar light bulbs just as ferociously as their retrograde views.
Here is a quick look at some remarks that the candidates have made which offers some insight to each congressman’s views on energy issues.
Rep.John Shimkus has said that
"Greenhouse gases are not toxic – every time we exhale we emit carbon dioxide; does EPA propose we stop breathing,"
He also made clear he is not worried about global climate change because
"The Earth will end only when God declares it's time to be over. Man will not destroy this Earth. This Earth will not be destroyed by a Flood."
Texas Rep.Joe Barton famously called Obama’s proposal for the oil company to establish a $20 billion escrow account for oil spill remediation a “shakedown” and apologized to the oil giant. He did back track afterward but he remains a recipient of large oil industry contributions.
Rep.Cliff Stearns supports drilling in ANWR and has claimed that this alone would reverse the decline in the US oil supply in a decade. Doubts about climate change science. In 2007 he gave a speech on the house floor saying the experts were wrong about global cooling in the 1970’s and that “…does not necessarily mean that they are wrong about global warming today, but it does at least show that experts are sometimes incredibly, incredibly wrong”.
What is happening with Rep.Fred Upton’s effort to gain the chairmanship is interesting.
In 2007, Upton suffered an apparent spasm of reason and supported and co-sponsored bills aimed at phasing out incandescent light bulbs and establishing efficiency standards for light bulbs. Although he has established his retrograde credentials by questioning the science of global warming and says the Democratic-controlled congress has let the EPA run wild and that the EPA must be held accountable.
Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have attacked Upton as a socialist and supporter of the nanny-state for his ideas on light bulbs.
Arguing against a bright future.
On the plus side, lightbulb manufacturers, facing bans all across the globe (at least in places where people can see the light), are slowly fazing out incandescents, anyway.
Now to get LEDs into economic reach for ordinary people – using a 3rd or less of the energy than a compact fluorescent uses, an LED is a much better energy leap, with fewer issues. They don’t come filled with mercury, and they work better in cold, instead of taking a long time to warm up or failing to work at all.
this is why the climate movement needs to be in the streets asap.
Fred Upton started work on Capitol Hill as a receptionist for then Congressman David Stockman (we know how he turned out). I remember Fred as a perky kind of guy and very decent. By contrast, Karl Rove, with whom I also briefly worked, was energetic but never decent. Fred is a scion of the Whirlpool manufacturing family; so, he has never seemed to lack financially. If I remember correctly, Fred proposed to his girlfriend by hiring a plane to pull a banner reading “Marry me, Amey” over Memorial Stadium during a Baltimore Orioles’ game.
If anything, Fred symbolizes how our political system has sunk into the mire of intellectual corruption — in addition to several other forms of corruption. Surviving within the Republican caucus obviously requires even decent guys like Fred Upton to make Faustian bargains, but it seems to me a good many Democrats have struck similar deals to hold onto power and office. You may be personally “nice”, but, ultimately, if you are contributing to the perpetuation a destructive system, there is nothing nice about that.
From a new PEW poll
http://pewresearch.org/databan…