Richard Pombo: Fighting To Protect You From Good Gas Mileage
Many Americans have wondered why, when faced with rapidly diminishing oil supplies and global warming caused by burning fossil fuels, Congressional Republicans have so steadfastly refused to raise the fuel standards imposed on the auto industry. Some have callously suggested that huge campaign donations and PAC contributions by Big Oil might have led our representatives to not necessarily act in our best interests.
According to Richard Pombo, though, his refusal to support higher gas mileage requirements for new cars stems from his deep concern for the safety of his constituents. You see, apparently, increased fuel efficiency would be DEADLIER THAN VIETNAM. This, from his 2002 Earth Day “Facts & Myths” message:
Myth: To reduce American reliance upon foreign oil, we need to conserve resources by increasing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on automobile manufacturers.Just meditate on that for a moment. Richard Pombo believes that we should waste our finite oil reserves, spend $3-4 per gallon for gas, fight unending oil wars in the Middle East, and turn our planet into an uninhabitable wasteland due to global warming so that bad drivers will be less likely to kill themselves.
Fact: Increasing CAFE standards not only restricts consumer choice, but it also leads to unnecessary traffic deaths. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) predicts new standards would raise sticker costs between $500 and $2,500 per vehicle. More important, the NAS also estimates that 2,000 additional deaths per year can already be attributed to the downsizing of automobiles forced on by CAFE standards. That's almost 50,000 deaths to date - nearly the number of lives lost in Vietnam. Moving to smaller, lighter vehicles in the 1970s and early 1980s, the NAS concluded, resulted in "an additional 13,000 to 26,000 incapacitating injuries and 97,000 to 195,000 total injuries in 1993" alone.
And he expects us to believe that the $200,000 he’s collected from Big Oil just for his 2006 campaign hasn’t influenced his actions at all.
Of course, it’s probably just a coincidence that the language in Pombo’s “Fact” assertion is lifted directly from talking points provided by the National Center for Public Policy Research, Amy Ridenour’s front group for the energy industry which receives significant funding from Exxon Mobil.
Forget Richard Pombo (R-Tracy).
It’s really Richard Pombo (R-Exxon).
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posted by babaloo @ 3:46 AM
18 Comments:
This is getting to be strange. We keep reading on the site Say No to Pombo, but all we read is about Pombo. We should be saying Say yes to Mc Nerney. Everything we read we see Pombo information. We want to read Mc Nerney trying to cut the wind out of Pombos sails. Mc Nerney has his company Repo Pombo fathers windmills because of non-payment. Start writing some negitive stuff about Pombo. Stop giving him the edge.
As we find out this morning one of Assemblyman member Aghazarian's field reps an associate of Carl Fogliani, wrote an article to the Tracy Press about Pete Mc Closkey's being a non believer of the holocaust and a being a anti-Semite. This letter sends a clear message that the Tracy Press are Pombo supporters, and liars to boot.
Tommy Bananas
Full list of Pombo's Energy, mining contributions. A lot of Oil, gas, Natural gas, Nuclear, Solar, Wind< hydro etc... They are all in bed together to support Pombo. We should boycot them all!
Tom, you should lead the charge!
1. KOCH INDUSTRIES INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (KOCHPAC) $10,000
2. EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (EXXONMOBIL PAC) $10,000
3. CHEVRONTEXACO EMPLOYEES POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $8,000
4. PG&E CORPORATION EMPLOYEES ENERGYPAC $7,000
5. EDISON INTERNATIONAL PAC $6,000
6. ACTION COMMITTEE FOR RURAL ELECTRIFICATION (ACRE) NATIONAL RURAL ELECTRIC COOP. ASSOC. $6,000
7. ANADARKO PETROLEUM CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $6,000
8. PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $5,500
9. IPAA WILDCATTERS FUND $5,000
10. COALPAC A POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION $5,000
11. MINEPAC A POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION $5,000
12. POWER PAC OF THE EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE $4,794
13. SEMPRA ENERGY EMPLOYEES POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $4,500
14. AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE; THE (GASPAC) $4,100
15. WILLIAMS COMPANIES, INC. PAC, THE $4,000
16. BP CORPORATION NORTH AMERICA INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $4,000
17. KENNECOTT HOLDINGS CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE A/K/A KENNECOTT PAC $4,000
18. HALLIBURTON COMPANY PAC $4,000
19. PHELPS DODGE EMPLOYEES FUND FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT $4,000
20. AMERICAN PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF ELECTRIC RESOURCES PAC $3,500
21. ASHLAND INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE FOR EMPLOYEES ('PACE') $3,000
22. POWER & ENERGY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF TXU CORP. $3,000
23. BARRICK GOLDSTRIKE MINES INC. USA EMPLOYEES' POLITICAL ACTION FUND $3,000
24. FOUNDATION COAL CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $3,000
25. NISOURCE INC. PAC $3,000
26. ARCH COAL INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (ARCHPAC) $3,000
27. MARATHON OIL COMPANY EMPLOYEES POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (MEPAC) $3,000
28. NATIONAL PROPANE GAS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE -PROPANEPAC $3,000
29. NATIONAL OCEAN INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION (NOIA) POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $3,000
30. EL PASO CORPORATION PAC $2,500
31. CALPINE CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2,000
32. CMS ENERGY EMPLOYEES FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT - FEDERAL $2,000
33. NATIONAL FUEL GAS COMPANY FEDERAL PAC FKA NATIONAL FUEL GAS FEDERAL PAC $2,000
34. CONOCOPHILLIPS SPIRIT PAC $2,000
35. CONSOL ENERGY INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE FKA CONSOL INC COAL GROUP PAC $2,000
36. CONSTELLATION ENERGY GROUP INC. FEDERAL PAC $2,000
37. DOMINION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2,000
38. SHELL OIL COMPANY EMPLOYEES' POLITICAL AWARENESS COMMITTEE $2,000
39. DTE ENERGY CO. PAC - FEDERAL $2,000
40. NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE FEDERAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2,000
41. MDU RESOURCES GROUP GOOD GOVERNMENT FUND $2,000
42. KEY ENERGY SERVICES INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2,000
43. MIRANT CORPORATION PAC INC. $2,000
44. NORTHEAST UTILITIES SERVICE COMPANY EMPLOYEES' POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE-FEDERAL $2,000
45. SENECA RESOURCES CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (SENECA RESOURCES PAC) $2,000
46. MID-CONTINENT OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (MID PAC) $2,000
47. XCEL ENERGY EMPLOYEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (XPAC) $2,000
48. OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2,000
49. BURLINGTON RESOURCES INC. PAC (BRPAC) $2,000
50. CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION/CIPAC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,740
51. VALERO ENERGY CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,500
52. BRINK'S COMPANY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, THE $1,500
53. AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (WINDPAC) $1,000
54. ALLETE PAC (ALLETE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE) $1,000
55. AVISTA CORP EMPLOYEES/EFFECTIVE GOVN PAC FKA AVISTA EMPLOYEES/EFFECTIVE GOVN $1,000
56. AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMMITTEE FOR RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT, THE $1,000
57. CINERGY CORP POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000
58. COMINCO AMERICAN INCORPORATED POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000
59. ENTERGY CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE "ENPAC" $1,000
60. FPL PAC FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT CO EMPLOYEES POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000
61. INTERSTATE NATURAL GAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000
62. KEYSPAN ENERGY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (KEYPAC) $1,000
63. PPL PEOPLE FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT (PPLPGG) $1,000
64. PROGRESS ENERGY EMPLOYEES' FEDERAL PAC $1,000
65. QUESTAR EMPLOYEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000
66. FRONTIER PAC $1,000
67. CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (CLIFFS PAC) $500
68. NATIONAL PETROCHEMICAL $500
69. PIEDMONT NATURAL GAS PAC $500
Total: $198,134
I'm not suggesting a boycott of the industries that are lobbying our politicians.
I'm suggesting a boycott of the politicians who are selling out their constituents' vital interests.
Thanks for providing this list. When comparing the donors here to the hundreds of individual citizens who have sent in $5, $10, $50 OR $100 to Jerry McNerney, it seems pretty obvious whose best interests we can expect these two candidates to represent.
You can lead the charge but it takes a long time. Pombo has had 14 years to build the bank account. He needs to be disarmed at the polls. We don't see the real money like the developers, land owners,and countless corrupt politicians in local offices. City Council, Mayors and Supervisors, who are positioned by Congressman Pombo to do things for him in the 11th district.
Unless we elect Jerry Mc Nerney or another Republican the system will fail in it's course. Pombo and his group of Hoodlums have hi-jacked the real Republican Party.
Help me clean up congress.
Tom Benigno
I think everyone should walk more. Walking is good exercise, and gives us time to think. If all of us would just walk to work, we could save huge amounts of energy. In countries in Africa and Asia, and in large parts of South and Central America, many people walk miles each day just to get water or firewood. There is no reason why we all couldn't walk to the grocery store and carry our food back in a reusable hemp backback, instead of those oil-based plastic bags or the paper ones made from killing trees. Our kids are getting fat watching tv and playing video games. They could be responsible for picking up the day's groceries if mom and dad are busy walking home from work. Think of all the lives that would be saved if everyone would just walk more.
Anon, I know you are trying to be snarky there, but actually, you have good advice. I try to walk several miles a day, though I drive the car to the grocery store, since those are heavy packages to carry. Also, I reuse the paper and plastic bags, as well as use a cloth bag (not a hemp backpack). Does that make any difference? Who knows, but that is what my mother, who grew up during the Depression, taught me.
Babaloo makes some excellent points about Pombo blatant shilling for auto and oil industries. His voting against every attempt to raise the CAFE standards is, in my mind, a criminal offense and he should be booted out for that one reason alone, though there are about 1,000 other reasons to dump this jerk.
Actually, I know many Good Ol' Boy types who live the Central Valley who have changed their tune in the last six months.
One of the things that many people don't realize is that the influx of Bay Areans into the Central Valley has driven up home prices so significantly that long-time residents who work in these towns have moved much further away in pursuit of better housing values. So they, too, have extra-long commutes. The ripple effect.
But getting back to the people I know -- no, they haven't given up their beloved pick-ups. They've just parked them and gone out and bought commute cars (the Toyota Yaris seems to be the most popular choice).
With gas predicted to go up to $4/gallon, they're feeling pretty smug about their $11,000 cars that get 40 mpg -- and they don't seem the least bit concerned that they're going to die because they're driving fuel-efficient vehicles.
Too bad that the policies of paid-for politicians like Pombo allowed our Detroit automakers to wallow in 9-mpg-land while foreign automakers were producing the cars that are taking over the market. Way to be short-sighted.
Babaloo-
That's economics. OF COURSE people will use less gasoline and look for ways to conserve when the price of gasoline goes up. That's what happens in a free market economy. In a socialist country, like the National Socialist Party (NAZI), the government tells the people what kind of car they can drive. In Hitler's Germany, it was the Volks(Folk)wagen, designed as the "people's car" which consumed very little gasoline so it could instead be devoted to their war machine. Why is it that it doesn't occur to some people that the government forcing someone to do something is not what our country is all about? There sure seems to be a lot of illiberal approaches...command and control...exhibited by those who claim to be liberals.
In a socialist country, like the National Socialist Party (NAZI), the government tells the people what kind of car they can drive.
You lose your right to comment here for saying something so fucking stupid. Nazi Germany was not a Socialist country. Sweden is a Socialist country. If you don't understand the difference between National Socialism and Socialism, then you don't have any standing to make comments about politics.
I wish you fucking trolls would spend some more time reading history and less time reading the likes of Jonah Goldberg. You fucking idiots would rather be spoonfed bullshit than think for yourselves.
Hah! I’ll bet that rationale will pop up in Richard Pombo’s rhetoric any day now. “I voted against raising CAFE standards because, um, er — that’s it! Because Hitler thought affordable, fuel efficient cars were a good idea. Yeah, that’s it. Nothing to do with that $200,000 rattling around in my campaign coffers.”
As I’ve been saying all week, the quality of Pombozo trollery lately is just downright embarrassing.
FYI-I'm really offended by the amount of cursing on the blog this weekend. Its really inappropriate. It makes you look uneducated.
Wow, Matt did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or did your volkswagen break down?
About Pombo's supporters on his list of supporters is the Unions and the Hotel restaurant employees association. That has to be about 2 million people in California alone. I thought these were lower middel class people who voted democrat. Why are they voting Republican.
Tom Benigno
Hey Matt-
The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; NSDAP.
Your ranting and swearing is much like the intemperate book-burning that characterized the Socialist regime in Germany. Don't like someone else's ideas? Shout them down...burn their books...call them names.
Again, do your research. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy. Or you can continue telling yourself the Big Lie...that giving government more control over peoples' lives doesn't constitute reducing freedoms for the individual. I just wonder why you would so willingly submit yourself to letting someone tell you what kind of vehicle you can drive. What's the psychological underpinning of that?
Anon --
The problem is that when you trolls seek to defend Richard Pombo, you must, of necessity, dissemble -- and then name-call to distract from your attempted deceptions.
The beginning premise of your first comment is just a flat-out lie. As Matt pointed out, conflating National Socialism with socialism is akin to comparing an independent to an American Independent. It’s basically just wordplay — trying to make something appear to be what it’s not. You know, like saying you’re trying to “fix” the ESA when you’re really trying to “gut” it. That kind of thing.
Not content with just one deceit, you further assert that the Nazis “forced” people to drive fuel efficient cars. Once again, you need to stop lying:
Before the 1930's, there had been many efforts to create simple cars that everyone could afford, but none met with profound success. Almost all cars before 1930, even if they were designed to be simple enough for the average person, ended up costing more than the average worker's yearly wage.
Starting in 1930, Ferdinand Porsche devoted himself to developing a car that was simple and inexpensive enough that the average person could afford it. The mere fact that Hitler recognized the importance of developing such a car and encouraged Porsche hardly qualifies the Volkswagen as a Nazi car or advances the notion that a practical and affordable car is somehow an expression of Nazi political thought. Furthermore, there is absolutely NO evidence that Hitler or his Nazi “forced” the Volkswagen on anyone. Developing something that actually serves the needs of the people, even if you’re Hitler, is hardly fascist.
And yes, setting national policy that benefits the average member of the public SHOULD be what our democracy is all about. When our politicians deliberately sabotage the welfare of the people of our country in order to serve their corporate masters — well, that’s when we need to rise up against them.
Hence the name of this blog.
Babaloo--
"And yes, setting national policy that benefits the average member of the public SHOULD be what our democracy is all about."
Ahhh...the "average member of the public." And who determines whom is average, as opposed to those who are special, and need to use a larger vehicle that gets less mileage? By the way, we have a representative democracy, not a democracy. Perhaps the reason you all seem so angry about your government is because you are poor students of government, generally. You confuse a welfare state with socialism; the NAZIs didn't...they put it in their name. You confuse Sweden with socialism when it is a creaking, demographically challenged welfare state with a constitutional monarchy. And you confuse our own representative democracy with democracy. In essence, you're poor students of history certainly, and government generally. No wonder you're so often wrong; you actually think you're right!
Anon --
Gee, I’m really glad that unlike the other Pombozos, you didn’t sleep through all your high school government classes. You make the distinction that “representative democracy” is the form of “democracy” practiced by the US. Have a cookie. Putting a finer point on the definition does nothing to change the meaning of my comment:
Yes, setting national policy that benefits the average member of the public SHOULD be what our [representative] democracy is all about."
As to your ongoing blather about Sweden, Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, where the monarchy has long held a ceremonial role. Sweden’s government is run by a democratically-elected Parliament which has been controlled for most of the last century by the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, a party which I’m proud to say was founded in 1889 by my illustrious ancestor, Hjalmar Branting, who was its first elected prime minister and also won a Nobel Peace Prize. And I can personally vouch for the fact that Hjalmar was a committed socialist.
Getting back to your other attempts at obfuscation, you start off quoting me, ”And yes, setting national policy that benefits the average member of the public SHOULD be what our democracy is all about."
Ahhh...the "average member of the public." And who determines whom [sic] is average, as opposed to those who are special, and need to use a larger vehicle that gets less mileage?
Um, are you being willfully obdurate here or just plain dense? “Benefits the average member of the public.” Benefits would be, you know, things like cleaner air, the slowing of global warming and its attendant natural disasters, independence from foreign oil and its resultant foreign entanglements — BENEFITS. You dissimulate by convoluting that into a nonsensical question that disregards even a basic understanding of CAFE standards, which pertain to an entire fleet, not individual vehicles.
Look, this is getting really tedious. Every time you show up here, you just make yourself and your candidate look worse. Friends like you should are Exhibit A of why we need to Say No To Pombo.
This is the question for all those out there that believe we need more oil, then we need food. We need to check your dip stick, you are a quart or two low. If you think Pombo will feed you quess again. Vote Pombo out.
The real patriot
Tom Benigno
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