WV Activist to Senator Inhofe: Give Blankenship Campaign Money to the Community

Last week, Republic Report revealed that recently indicted former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship had given campaign cash to only one federal politician this campaign cycle: Republican Senator Jim Inhofe.

Now, a prominent West Virginia activist, Vernon Haltom, the executive director of Coal River Mountain Watch, is writing to Sen. Inhofe to highlight that donation. In a letter he shared with Republic Report, Vernon says that Blankenship’s “reprehensible, inexcusable contempt for workers’ safety resulted in heartbreak for the families and community of 29 miners.” He goes on to call for the Oklahoma senator to “please consider returning that campaign donation …

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Exxon-Backed Legislation to Increase Corporate Influence over EPA’s Scientific Board Passes

In the midst of congressional votes on the Keystone XL and NSA reform, the House of Representatives just passed a far-ranging bill to compel the EPA’s board of scientific advisors to include industry representatives. The bill, H.R. 1422, the Science Advisory Board Reform Act, is the latest attempt by the Republican-held Congress to manipulate the science underpinning environmental regulations.

The bill has been sharply criticized by scientists, environmental groups, and public health experts because it compromises the scientific independence of the EPA’s scientific advisors, noted Emily Atkins of ThinkProgress. The Union of Concerned Scientists explains that the bill “opens the door to more …

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Madeleine Albright’s Consulting Firm Behind Effort to Undercut Bangladesh Safety Standards

The tragic Dhaka garment factory disaster in Bangladesh last year placed international pressure on global retailers to take responsibility and force their suppliers to increase safety standards. Though many North American and European brands signed onto a fairly strong safety agreement known as the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, several companies with suppliers in Bangladesh refused, most notably, Wal-Mart and GAP.

Wal-Mart and GAP, rather than signing the Accord’s binding safety agreement, developed their own standard with fewer commitments and no legally binding promise to take financial responsibility for future disasters. While the Accord mandates that retailers help provide funds for safety …

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Oil Companies Continue to Lavish ‘Grassroots’ Pro-Keystone XL Groups with Cash

As Republic Report has previously noted, a group called the Consumer Energy Alliance has led the grassroots-organizing efforts to pressure politicians to support the Keystone XL pipeline. The group has mobilized letters to Congress, petitions to the State Department, and maintains a website caleld “BuildKXLNOW.org,” among other efforts.

New disclosure information obtained by Republic Report reveals that CEA continues to receive big donations from the nation’s largest oil companies, including firms positioned to profit from the shipment of tar sands oil from Alberta to the gulf coast.

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers — a trade group that represents Koch Industries, Continue Reading »

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Kentucky Congressman Goes to Bat for Wife’s Company on Capitol Hill

LaserLock Technologies, a firm that sells anti-counterfeiting products, won a powerful congressional ally on Capitol Hill after recruiting a Kentucky congressman’s wife.

Representative Ed Whitfield, a senior Republican lawmaker from western Kentucky, personally submitted company documents on behalf of LaserLock to the congressional record in support of legislation crucial to the firm’s business. Whitfield’s wife, Constance Harriman, a registered lobbyist, has come under scrutiny from Office of Congressional Ethics investigators for unduly influencing Whitfield and his staff for her client, the Humane Society. But new revelations about her role with LaserLock, a company in which she is an investor and where she serves as a board …

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Will Senator Jim Inhofe Return Don Blankenship’s Campaign Donation?

One of Senator Jim Inhofe’s (R-OK) most fervent supporters may soon end up behind bars. Yesterday, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was indicted by a federal grand jury for a range of alleged criminal acts relating to the disaster at Upper Big Branch mine, a 2010 explosion that killed 29 of Blankenship’s employees. Blankenship is charged with thwarting mine safety enforcement by misleading mine safety inspectors, conspiring to violate mine safety laws, and he is also accused of making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission about his company’s safety practices.

Blankenship is a big fan of Senator …

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Peabody Energy CEO: Burning ‘Dung’ Real Environmental Issue, Not Coal

Another CNBC interview, another slow pitch interview for a fossil fuel executive.

Not too long ago, Republic Report caught a CNBC producer soliciting climate change denier pundits to “balance” a report about the costs of inaction on carbon emissions. Last weekend, CNBC brought on Gregory Boyce, Peabody Energy’s chief executive, to uncritically discuss how his coal company is attempting to airbrush the image of coal.

“People have this stigma that coal is the dirtiest form of electricity,” said the CNBC reporter. “How do you battle against that stigma?”

That “stigma” is based on reality. Coal-fired power plants are the largest contributors to …

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Dems Push Keystone XL Vote After Sharing Consultants with TransCanada

Over the course of a very expensive midterm election, Senate Democrats used a number of outside groups to shore up vulnerable incumbents. Federal Election Commission disclosures show that many of these groups relied on SKDKnickerbocker, a Democratic consulting firm, to produce the advertisements that flooded swing states this year.

SKDKnickerbocker, according to multiple reports, was also retained by TransCanada to build support for the Keystone XL pipeline.

The firm, run by veteran Democratic consultants including Anita Dunn and Hilary Rosen, produced advertising for Senate Majority PAC, WomenVote!, Walsh for Montana, and Patriot Majority USA, the highest spending dark money group supporting Democrats …

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