Godfather of Green My Foot!
Terri Whitehouse April 10th, 2008
Just thought I’d share this blast issued by the League of Conservation Voters about Sen. Mitch McConnell, the self-proclaimed “Godfather of Green“:
LCV Members Elect Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell the new Don of the “Dirty Dozen”
Self-proclaimed “Godfather of Green” Continues to Stand for Polluters while Standing in the Way of Clean Air, Clean Water, and Clean Energy
Louisville, KY – The members of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), the independent political voice for the environment, today added Senate MinorityLeader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to its 2008 “Dirty Dozen” list.
LCV members voted online to decide which 2008 candidate had committed the most egregious offenses against the environment. 25,000 concerned citizens voted for the next member of the “Dirty Dozen,” and chose Sen. McConnell by an overwhelming margin.
“Our members know that Mitch McConnell has voted against our health and safety since he came to Washington. They know that he stands as an impassable roadblock in the way of a clean energy future for this country,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “They know that it is time to tear down this roadblock. That’s why Mitch McConnell, this ‘Godfather of Green,’ is the new ‘Don’ of the Dirty Dozen.”
McConnell’s lifetime LCV score of 7% is among the worst in Washington. In 24 years in the Senate, he earned an annual score of 0% twelve times, and in the last fourteen years, McConnell has cast only two pro-conservation votes. Since becoming his party’s Leader in the Senate, McConnell has served as the chief enforcer for Big Oil and other corporate polluters, leading efforts to derail and weaken legislation that would protect our families and keep America’s land, air, and water clean.
LCV’s trademark “Dirty Dozen” program targets current and former members of Congress – regardless of party affiliation – who consistently vote against the environment and are running in races where LCV has a serious chance of affecting the outcome.“In 2006, our members brought down nine members of the Dirty Dozen, nine of the worst politicians in Washington. With that kind of record, this Dirty Dozen election may be the last vote that Senator McConnell ever wins,” Karpinski said.
McConnell joins Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), and former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-CO) on the 2008 Dirty Dozen. LCV will name the rest of the 2008 Dirty Dozen members in the coming months.
For information on LCV’s “Dirty Dozen” program, visit www.lcv.org/campaigns/dirty-dozen.
For more on McConnell’s voting record, visit www.lcv.org/mcconnell
In case you forgot, Sen. McConnell’s “Godfather of Green” claim stems from the fact that he secured pork-barrel spending for Louisville’s oustanding park system. And while I am a fan of parks, I’m also a fan of math. Louisville’s park system, great as it is, only occupies about one-half of one percent of all of the land in Kentucky, and is only about 3.5% of the size of our state park system, which of course doesn’t include national parks, municipal parks, private hunting and fishing areas, farmland, mines, land developments, etc. Parks are great places to spend time and are of real value to our communities, but as wonderful and important as they are, they are NOT the sole indicators of land, air, and water conservation.
One-half of one percent, folks. I’d say that’s probably a good number when measuring just how much Sen. McConnell really cares about Kentucky’s citizens. It is time to DITCH MITCH!
- 2008 KY U.S. Senate Race , Climate Change , Ditch Mitch , Energy Industry , Kentucky , Mitch McConnell
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Below are some of the devastating consequences of GOP inaction on Global Warming, Poor Energy, and Economic Policies:
ENGLAND: GORDON Brown has been warned that the rising price of food could threaten economic stability and could lead to further rioting across the globe.The warning came at a summit of world leaders in Watford last week, which drew together some of the world’s most influential politicians including former US president Bill Clinton. Delegates warned Mr Brown that rising demand, supply shortages and the move into biofuels were a threat to economic and social stability.
Global food prices extended their run up, increasing 57 percent last month from a year earlier, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said. Prices of nearly all food commodities have risen since the beginning of the year, supported by a persistent, tight supply and demand situation,” FAO said. The recent gains in meat prices “mostly reflect the continued surge in feed prices.” Rice and wheat futures traded on the Chicago Board of Trade both have doubled in the past year. Corn has risen 62 percent in the past 12 months. In the past year, the price of commodities has ratcheted up to record levels.
As food riots sweep the developing world, the EU’s foreign aid chief has warned that sky-rocketing food price rises threaten a “humanitarian tsunami” in Africa,”A global food crisis is becoming apparent,” said EU humanitarian aid commissioner Louis Michel.
“The world food situation is very serious today with food riots reported from many countries such as Mexico, Egypt, Cameroon, Haiti, Burkina Faso and Senegal. We fear that this may spread to other countries,” Mr Jacques Diouf, FAO Director-General, told reporters.
In Cairo Egypt, bread is so scarce that it is sold from behind a barricaded wall. Government ministers are trying to find ways to appease workers in the wake of 2 days of deadly riots over sky-rocketing food prices.
Driven by hunger, mob storms Haitian palace At least five people have been killed in the civil unrest that started last week as food prices increased sharply and people struggled to feed themselves. “We are hungry,” they shouted before attempting to smash open the palace gates with metal bins.
Fear of rice riots as surge in demand hits nations across the Far East. on the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia, thousands of makers of traditional tempeh soyabean cakes strike in protest as their livelihoods are destroyed and their countrymen starve. Armed guards for rice deliveries will become a common sight in many countries in East Asia.
The World Bank says 33 countries from Mexico to Yemen may face social unrest because of spiraling food and energy costs. This week’s story that no one read and everyone should have is about tortilla riots in Mexico. Yes, tortilla riots. In Mexico. Some 75,000 people protesting the rising price of tortillas.
Out of control prices demand a food strategy for NZ : New Zealand must start developing strategies to ensure a sufficient supply of food to withstand global shortages and out of control food prices.
Action Needed On Climate, Food Crisis Says Oxfam
WASHINGTON, DC - April 8 - As the Bretton Woods Institutions meet this week for the Spring Meetings, Oxfam calls on them and governments to keep poverty top of the agenda. At a time when the global economy is facing a crisis, Oxfam said the emphasis on the rich world must not eclipse action in developing countries where rapidly rising food prices, increased flooding and droughts due to climate change are wreaking havoc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRDsCgIALZo
I viewed Bill Moyer’s show last night. The program was about the Farm Bill, excellent by the way, and showed how our elected representatives have turned it into a welfare trough for the not-in-need. At the very end of the program Mr. Moyers mentioned that Sen. McConnell inserted a provision into the Farm Bill that will give a tax break to race horse owners. I can visualize an ad campaign showing Mitch at the Derby and highlighting tax breaks for horse owners. It should be very easy. I wish I lived in Kentucky just so I could vote against the man.
http://www.hillbillyreport.com/blog/2007/07/hillbilly-re-20.html