by Lisa Hymas
Pombo and an old pal.Enviros were thrilled when Richard Pombo,
a Republican who represented California’s 11th congressional district for seven
terms, was ousted from his seat by a renewable-energy geek in
2006. Pombo had been deemed Public Enemy
No. 1 by the environmental community, which invested big bucks in the effort to
beat him.
Amanda Little reported at the time:
As chair of the House Resources Committee, Pombo has enjoyed
tremendous influence over environmental policy making in recent years. He
spearheaded an effort to weaken the Endangered Species Act (which passed the
House last year but got nowhere in the Senate), and pushed a bill that would
lift a moratorium on offshore drilling (which also passed the House and also
didn’t clear the Senate). Less successful have been Pombo’s attempts to
green-light drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; sell off more than
a dozen national monuments, preserves, and historic sites; allow advertising in
national parks; and open vast swaths of public land to development under the
guise of mining-law reform.
Pombo was also tainted by dealings with disgraced lobbyist
Jack Abramoff and other unsavory characters.
As David Roberts wrote in a heartfelt tribute upon his defeat, Pombo “embodied the cozy corruption, utter fealty to big
industry, and mendacious faux conservatism of the 109th Congress.”
Pombo and another old pal.Reports
Greenwire, “Since leaving Congress, Pombo has worked for the Oregon-based
public relations firm Pac/West Communications, which has worked to ease logging
restrictions and at one time backed Pombo’s efforts to overhaul the Endangered
Species Act.”
But now Pombo is back, running to
represent the 19th congressional district, right next door to his old
district. He seeks to replace Rep. George
Radanovich (R), who’s retiring.
Here’s reaction
from Bruce Hamilton of the Sierra
Club:
When Pombo represented Dublin and Pleasanton he wanted to
sell off the only national park that was in his district (Eugene O’Neill
National Historic Site). Now he wants to represent Yosemite.
National Parks were America’s best idea, film director Ken Burns reminds
us. Having Richard Pombo represent Yosemite may be America’s worst
idea.
Pombo’s aim for a comeback is nothing but a shameless
attempt to exploit the revolving door that remains all too common in
Washington. After doing the bidding of Big Oil and other special interests
during his years in Congress, he literally went to work for the same lobbying
firm that backed some his most egregious activities, and now he wants to be
sent back to Congress to represent a district where he doesn’t even live.
Who does Pombo really want to represent in Congress—the voters of California’s
19th district or his special interest supporters?
After being dumped by voters in one district, it now appears
that both Richard Pombo and his Big Oil backers are looking for a taxpayer-funded
bail-out from another.
And here’s the Sierra Club’s list of “Pombo’s Greatest Misses”:
Proposed selling off our national parks,
including the only national park in his former district
Took more than $337,000 in campaign cash from
Big Oil
Tried to gut the Endangered Species Act
Went on a taxpayer-funded cross-country family
vacation
Backed the George W. Bush administration’s
misguided and disastrous effort to decimate our national forests, the so-called
Healthy Forest Initiative
Backed the George W. Bush administration’s
efforts to gut the Clean Air Act
Tried, repeatedly, to open the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to drilling
One of the most vocal proponents of disastrous
Bush-Cheney energy policy, written by, and for, Big Oil, Dirty Coal, and the
nuclear industry
Named one of the “most corrupt members of
Congress” by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, based
on his ties to disgraced and convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and numerous
other alleged violations of Congressional ethics rules and federal laws.
Other
enviro groups are also getting riled up and ready to battle Pombo
again.
“We’re not about to stand by and watch Pombo grab his
carpetbag and return to Congress a mere four years after we worked so hard to
oust him,” Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen
said in a statement. “If he runs, we’ll be there to remind voters about
his corrupt record and why he was booted out of Congress in the first
place.”
Related Links:
The policy and politics of Obama’s $2.3 billion in clean energy tax credits
Coal: Looking Back at 2009 & Ahead at 2010
