So what are the election results' effect on environmental legislation? Glad you asked. Richard Pombo, Chairman of the House Resources Committee, got defeated by, of all ironic opponents, a wind energy consultant named Jerry McNerney. Pombo's been an advocate for all manner of horrible ideas which contradict sound environmental policy, so this is great news.
"We've elected a greener U.S. House and a greener U.S. Senate," said Cathy Duvall, the national political director for the Sierra Club.The probable new chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. She's one of the Senate's most liberal members; the current chair, Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, is among the most conservative.
The changing cast of characters will play out in many ways:
- The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil-and-gas drilling perennially championed by House Republicans won't go anywhere in the next Congress. Drilling off the coast of Florida or other states becomes a real long shot.
- Other controversial ideas that Pombo once toyed with - such as selling 15 little-visited National Park Service sites, including playwright Eugene O'Neill's home in the California city of Danville - are down for the count.
- The Endangered Species Act, which Pombo built his career on combating, has a new lease on life. The Democrat who's poised to become House Resources Committee chairman, Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia, voted against Pombo's Endangered Species Act legislation. The League of Conservation Voters gave Rahall a vote ranking of 92, compared with Pombo's score of 17.
Via Mahablog.
I should also add that Senator Akaka of Hawai'i was re-elected with the endorsement of the local Sierra Club. He's been a consistent voter in favor of drilling in ANWR but promised to revisit the issue in order to get their endorsement. His reasoning's always been based on the economic benefits of drilling to the tribes up there; as we know, their thoughts have changed somewhat.
Posted by Linkmeister at November 10, 2006 12:01 AM | TrackBackPombo was also a strong advocate for wind power, for getting the environmentalists and conservationists out of the way of its spread. I don't know if they did this cycle, but the American Wind Energy Association has donated to his campaigns in the past.
Posted by: Rosa at November 10, 2006 08:02 AM