Friday, May 16, 2008

Oregon, energy, and Hillary

Charles Lemos analyzes Hillary Clinton's new ad running in Oregon:

For me the brilliant part is that it highlights that Barack Obama voted for the Bush-Cheney Energy Plan that prevents states from participating in the siting process for LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) terminals. Oregon is now fighting three proposed LNG terminals. Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Hillary Clinton have introduced legislation to rescind that part of the Bush-Cheney Energy Plan. Now for the hilarious irony of all this. In Oregon, Obama is sending out a flyer stating how he supports the Wyden Plan on siting. He fails to mention that it is his fault to begin with and omits Clinton’s leadership on this issue, not to mention the fact that she voted against the Bush-Cheney Energy Plan. [Emphasis added.]

Click the image below to go to By The Fault to watch the Clinton Oregon ad.

To bolster Charles' statements, Blue Oregon served up the facts on the impact of Obama's vote that stripped states of their "regulatory role in siting liquefied natural gas terminals" and gave the federal government control:

Today, the Cheney-Bush Energy bill is responsible for no fewer than 3 LNG facilities threatening Oregon coastline, rivers, forests, fish, fishermen, farmers, and neighborhoods up and down western Oregon, and most of that natural gas will ultimately go to California.

Let’s see who was for this mess and who was against it [in the Senate]:

Opposed the Cheney-Bush Energy Bill [edited to include all 26 "nays"]
Biden (D-DE)
Boxer (D-CA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dodd (D-CT)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Sununu (R-NH)
Wyden (D-OR)

For the Cheney-Bush Energy Bill [edited to include Democrats voting "yea"]
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Stabenow (D-MI)

The vote information is here and here.

In April, Wyden and Clinton took the lead by introducing legislation with co-sponsors Dodd and Lieberman to repeal the fed's role and give states the power to site LNG facilities.

“The end result of the Bush-Cheney energy bill is a federal process, dominated by corporate energy interests, in which Oregonians have no due process and no assurance that their concerns will be heard, much less addressed,” Wyden said.