Hey everyone, this is intern Ashleigh Lewis’s first post. Everyone, say hi to Ashleigh [waits…] SAY IT. Ashleigh’s righteous anger at Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski should serve as welcome tonic to your sad, cynical lethargy.
First Governor Palin, now Senator Murkowski. What other political gems will Alaska cough up? Senator Lisa Murkowski is drafting a proposal that would strip the EPA of its power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, to be put to vote as soon as tomorrow. Murkowski has been parading herself as an anti-global-warming politician in a pro-raking-in-dollars-at-any-cost politician’s clothes. She has acknowledged the effects of climate change—uncommon for someone representing an oil-state—but has a pesky habit of voting against climate change legislation.
Murkowski’s latest proposal would amend and, in effect, plunge a poison-tipped dagger into the Clean Air Act as it stands. To make sure she was doing the most damage possible, Murkowski’s staff director on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and her energy staffer met with two lobbyists and Clean Air Act specialists in September to pick through the proposal and be reassured that the amendment would not stop the EPA from having the power to impose emissions limits on vehicles. So far so good, until they went on to make sure that the amendment would definitely stop the EPA from imposing emissions limits on power plants—because that’s the industry that is paying for her suit jackets in various shades of Republican Red. Murkowski is Congress’ number-one recipient of electric utilities’ money, and the number four recipient of Big Oil money.
Also, it’s pretty obvious that Murkowski was teased by polar bears as a child and is now just seeking revenge.