In the House, 99 members are rated as “Clean Air Heroes” while in the Senate the 43 “Clean Air Heroes” outnumber the chamber’s villains. All 193 Dirty Air Villains in the House are Republican. In the Senate, 37 Republicans and two Democrats voted down the line against clean air. All 99 Clean Air Heroes in the House are Democrats, while in the Senate, 41 of the Heroes are Democrats and 2 are Independents.
The NRDC Action Fund analysis also found that on average, House members who took more than $100,000 in career polluter campaign contributions voted against clean air laws nearly twice as many times as those who accepted less than $100,000 from dirty industries. In the Senate, members taking more than $500,000 in career polluter campaign contributions voted against clean air laws three times as often as those taking less, on average. Contributions data was obtained from OpenSecrets in August, 2012.
Goodlatte, who represents Virginia’s Sixth District, has consistently rated a zero in environmental matters by a respected environmental agency since he has been in Congress.
The analysis also finds that a large number of the House and Senate “villains” – 48 in the House and 25 in the Senate - represent citizens living in towns and cities rated by the American Lung Association (ALA) as ranking among the 25 most polluted metro areas in America for air pollution.
Virginia’s six Dirty Air Villains are Reps. Scott Rigell (R-VA2), Randy Forbes (R-VA4), Robert Hurt (R-VA5), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA6), House Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA7) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA9). Virginia’s three Clean Air Heroes are Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11), James Moran (D-VA8) and Robert Scott (D-VA3).
(Photo: synearth.com)
I'm sensing a pattern here. I wish we could send all those Republicans back in time to Covington in the 1960s when the smell from the paper plant would waft its way to Roanoke from time to time, and where people repainted their cars with house paint and a roller every year? They'd probably say, "It smells like bread and butter," to the people who had jobs. It smelled like sulphur to me.
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