Dump The Pump on Thursday

Thursday, June 16 is Dump the Pump Day. The idea is for people to eschew their cars for a day and try other ways of getting to work and getting around town, whether it's by walking, biking, public transit, or anything else that lessens the amount of pollution.

You can read more about it at NextStop St. Louis .

Conveniently, there's a also a Car Free Happy Hour on Thursday.

Big Oil Shill Todd Akin Running For Senate

Todd Akin is officially running for U.S. Senate vs. Claire McCaskill, leading one GOP consultant to say that Missouri Republicans have a "less-than-stellar field." Most people probably already know that Akin loves oil companies much more than he loves working families, but just in case the Missouri Democratic Party put out this helpful press release:

Todd Akin: Standing Up for Big Oil, Not Missouri Families

Jefferson City, Mo.—The Missouri Democratic Party released the following statement today in response to Rep. Todd Akin’s announcement that he is a candidate for US Senate:

“Todd Akin’s extreme record of fighting for special interests speaks for itself,” said Caitlin Legacki, Missouri Democratic Party spokeswoman. “While Todd Akin votes to protect tax breaks for oil companies in exchange for $50,000 from his Big Oil friends, Missourians are getting gouged at the pump. In what will surely be a long, messy and expensive GOP primary, Missouri voters expect Todd Akin to answer a lot of important questions about where he really stands."

Since his election to Congress in 2000, Akin has established himself as a leading supporter of Big Oil and extreme special interests. While Big Oil companies continue to reap billion-dollar profits, Missouri families are paying nearly four dollars a gallon at the pump. Six times in the last five years, Akin voted to protect billions of dollars in federal subsidies for Big Oil companies.

BACKGROUND:

· As recently as May 5, Akin voted to protect the Section 199 domestic manufacturing tax credit for the five largest oil companies. [Vote 293, 5/05/11]

· Meanwhile, Todd Akin Has Accepted $47,750 From The Oil And Gas Industry. Since beginning his congressional career, Akin has accepted $47,750 from the oil and gas industry. [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 5/16/11]

· Akin has repeatedly voted to protect tax breaks for big oil companies:

o In March 2011, Akin voted against a measure that would have repealed oil and gas production tax breaks for major integrated oil companies for the proposed two-week period in the House budget continuing resolution. [HJR 44, Vote #153, 3/01/11]

o In 2008, Akin voted against considering the rule to allow the House to vote on the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act, which would allow for the House to vote on the bill. Included in the legislation was a provision to eliminate a manufacturing tax deduction for larger oil and gas companies. The motion passed, 224-186. [HR 5351, Vote 78, 2/27/08]

o In 2008, Akin voted against a motion to end debate on the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act, which would allow for the House to vote on the bill. Included in the legislation was a provision to eliminate a manufacturing tax deduction for larger oil and gas companies. The motion passed, 224-186. [HR 5351, Vote 78, 2/27/08]

· Akin Opposed Repealing Big Oil’s Tax Breaks. In 2007, Akin voted against shifting certain revenue from royalties and tax incentives for oil and gas companies into a reserve fund for alternative and renewable energies. The bill would have required current offshore fuel producers who are not paying federal royalties to agree to pay royalties when fuel prices reach certain thresholds or pay fees based on how much fuel they produce. The bill passed 264-163. [New York Times, 1/19/07; Speaker Pelosi Press Release, 1/18/07; CQ Floor Votes, 1/18/07; HR 6, Vote 40, 1/18/07]

· .After He Opposed Removing Tax Breaks for Big Oil Companies from 2006 Tax Bill. In 2006, Akin voted against a motion to instruct conferees negotiating H.R. 4297, the Tax Reconciliation Bill. The motion instructed House conferees to 1) Accept three bipartisan provisions from the Senate that would require big oil companies would pay their fair share of taxes by removing subsidies and closing loopholes for large integrated oil companies and 2) strike the extension of the capital gains and dividend tax cuts. The total for these two proposals was $51 billion. In 2005, the previous year, the top five oil companies reaped more than $100 million, three times their profits in 2002. The motion failed 190-232. [McDermott Talking Points, “Republicans Fight for Big Oil Subsidies and Loopholes”; HR4297, Vote 109, 4/27/06]

Ed Martin Files Amended Statement And Still Gets It Wrong on His Big Oil Donations

FiredUp has all the gory details of Ed Martin finally getting around to finishing up his embarrassingly bad attempt at the simple act of filing a campaign finance report. Martin had originally reported having $175,514 cash on hand, then said it was more like $40,000, and now he admits he only has $25,317. There are other strange discrepancies as well.

I looked through the itemized donations, and noticed that he got $4,000 from Conoco Phillips Spirit PAC.

Actually, it looks like he still managed to get his report wrong, since the aggregate donations from those two donations of $2,000 should of course be $4,000. This fits nicely with the $5,000 he received from Exxon throughout the campaign. But remember how huffy he gets if anyone suggests that he's a Big Oil candidate?

Martin also received a $2,000 donation from insurance company WellPoint, to make it $3,000 for the campaign.


There's no indication that Martin ever paid his former communications director for her past work. I guess Martin is standing by his retroactive decision that those would be "volunteer hours."

So, in summary, when I look for a Senator, I know I sure want someone who's a willing tool of Big Oil and Big Insurance companies who can't manage to pay his employees and somehow continuously messes up basic disclosure forms even when under increased scrutiny, don't you?

Reminder: Ed Martin Attacked Carnahan's Wife and Late Father

At the debate yesterday, after Ed Martin repeatedly tried to smear him, Russ Carnahan brought up the fact that Ed Martin's family owns over $100,000 in Big Oil stock. Ed Martin acted outraged, and said ""Shame on you, Congressman Carnahan," Martin claimed to be outraged because the stock was not owned by him, but rather by his wife.

Martin had a similar reaction Wednesday on the Charlie Brennan show (click here to listen to the mp3). . When Brennan mentioned the stock, Martin said:

This is a disgusting display by Russ Carnahan...he knows that this is my wife's stock, it's listed as her stock, and we told him it was a gift.

Fascinating that Martin now somehow thinks that mentioning his wife's stock options in a fossil fuel industry that has been polluting the planet, pushing our government around, and getting us entangled in ridiculous foreign policy for years should be off limits, especially considering that he was all-too-happy to attack Russ Carnahan's wife and deceased father earlier in the year.

In a June press release about "Protecting the Unborn," here's what Martin had to say:

Congressman Russ Carnahan on the other hand proudly supports abortion of every type and believes taxpayer dollars should fund it. Carnahan voted to funnel federal dollars to Planned Parenthood. It’s not surprising that these votes benefitted his family; Carnahan’s wife,Debra, presided for many years as a director of the national board of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

And later:

Missouri’s 3rd district has, for too long now, gone unprotected. The Carnahan family has a long history of not protecting the most vulnerable in our society. Mel Carnahan, when serving as Missouri’s Governor, three times vetoed partial birth abortion bans passed by Republican and Democrat legislators. These vetoes marked a low point in our state and national history.

So apparently it's perfectly fine for Ed Martin to attack Russ Carnahan's wife and deceased father whenever he pleases, and even suggest that the family "has a long history of not protecting the most vulnerable," but if someone mentions his wife's stock options in one of the most destructive industries in the world, hey man, that's not cool.

Just another day in Republican hypocrisy.

Big Coal and Big Oil Shill Ed Martin Hates Investment in Clean Energy

You would think that after the disastrous BP oil fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico that has ruined ecosystems, destroyed ways of life, and caused a huge amount of needless suffering, and the 2008 disaster where 500 million gallons of toxic coal sludge broke through a retention wall in Tennessee, people would be happy to see the government invest in energy sources that don't actually destroy the planet. After all, the U.S. government provides billions of dollars in subsidies for oil and coal companies every year: wouldn't it make sense for them to also invest in clean, renewable energy sources? Not if you're former Matt Blunt chief of staff and current coal and oil shill Ed Martin, who today launched a website called 90 Million Dollar Carnahan attacking the U.S. Government (and particularly, Congressman Russ Carnahan) for investing money in Tom Carnahan's wind farm project in Northwest Missouri.

It's not exactly surprising that Martin would be such a huge opponent of renewable energy. After all, he had his friends in the coal and oil industry purchase billboards in Missouri attacking Russ Carnahan for supporting environmental legislation. The group behind the billboards, ACARE, is led by Mike Carey, the President of the Ohio Coal Association. At a St. Louis Tea Party last year, Carey said that the solution to our energy problems was to "Drill, baby, drill and mine, baby mine!" The group claims on its website that somehow all of our environmental problems will be solved by unrestricted capitalism, and is apparently completely oblivious to the fact that giving billions of dollars of subsidies to coal and oil companies every year is not exactly a "free market." Then of course there's the fact that Ed Martin is apparently a climate change denier, choosing to align himself with corporate shills and ignoring the research of actual scientists.

Martin's new website was a response to the website Two Million Dollar Man, which details how Ed Martin as the former Chief of Staff for Matt Blunt wasted over $2 million dollars in taxpayer money by illegally firing and trying to destroy a whistleblower who was asking him to follow the state Sunshine laws. That is $2 million dollars of taxpayer money flushed down a toilet. For no reason at all. Except, maybe, to prevent taxpayers from learning about how Ed Martin liked to use his position to try to get free hunting permits. On the other hand, the $90 million dollars in federal stimulus money goes towards creating jobs and creating energy from a source that's guaranteed not to collapse and kill miners, spill toxic sludge into rivers, or dump millions of gallons of oil into the ocean. In contrast to Ed Martin and his big oil and big coal buddies, i think the last few years have shown that we need to be investing far more into renewable energy, not less.