Do you approve of Mary Landrieu replacing Ron Wyden as Chair of the Energy Committee?

[cali]

Chair.


New head of Senate Energy Committee has environmentalists seeing red

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) will bring a sharply different outlook to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee now that she has taken the gavel from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who has moved over to chair the Senate Finance Committee.


Landrieu favors building the Keystone XL pipeline, protecting tax breaks or incentives for oil drilling, and placing limits on the power of federal agencies to set mercury or carbon dioxide guidelines for coal-fired power plants. Wyden takes the opposite position on all those issues.

Landrieu supports giving oil companies the right to export crude oil as well as natural gas, while Wyden supports giving natural gas export permits on a case by case basis and does not have a public position on crude oil exports.


<snip>

Does any of this matter in a Congress hard-pressed to pass any legislation? Maybe. Landrieu could try to obstruct some Obama administration initiatives, especially on coal plants. She could work with committee Republicans to fashion legislation closer to the oil and gas industry interests. And she can make her voice heard more clearly than ever.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Energy Department Tuesday gave conditional approval to another liquefied natural gas project, this one in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and owned by San Diego-based Sempra Energy. It would export 1.7 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas. Just one day earlier, on Monday, Landrieu, who already had a lock on the new chairmanship, sent a sharply worded letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz saying that the delay in issuing a permit was “simply unacceptable” and that “we must not sit on our hands and let this great opportunity go by.”

<snip>


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/02/12/as-energy-panel-chair-landrieu-marks-a-major-shift-from-wyden/

9 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Hell, yes. Time to stop liberals from persecuting big oil, coal and gas!
	0 (0%)
	No, I think her ties to big energy producing companies are a conflict
	8 (89%)
	Duh. I dunno
	0 (0%)
	Waaah. This poll is weighted. (No shit)
	1 (11%)
	A Republican would be worse (True, but not an option at the moment)
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[cali]

1. this is so discouraging. and I don't think much has been posted about this

[Champion Jack]

2. as if it wasn't bad enough here in the sacrifice zone....

Now this bullshit

[bigwillq]

3. No

Not a fan of her.

[a kennedy]

4. Pot and the kettle.....

doh, NO, not a good idea.

[Autumn]

5. No I do not. IMO her getting that seat is a conflict of interest

and disgusting.

[HappyMe]

6. I agree.

A big conflict of interest.

[jaysunb]

9. Her getting that seat might SAVE the Senate from

republicans....She's already in the energy cartels pocket and they'd love to have her at the controls.

[cali]

11. it might. it's a high price and a deal with the devil, but it might.

Is it worth it? Maybe, but it's a steep price and a slippery slope.

[jaysunb]

13. Agreed n/t

[Autumn]

15. Well when you put it like that. Let's see ,jump off the cliff or get pushed?

It is a dilemma.

[jaysunb]

16. Not so much (a dilemma) it's how politics work. nt

[Autumn]

17. Yes that is how it works, and it shouldnt.

It reeks of corruption.

[jaysunb]

27. I don't agree w/ the "corruption" label

I think it's in everyone interest to have people that head panels, departments or government agencies who are familiar w/ what they are tasked to do. The fact that a government official serves in a role of overseer of that officials state resources could appear to be corrupt, but some people may feel otherwise. They may actually know what the hell they're doing or talking about. If they solicit or are given campaign money by that entity it's normal and every elected official seeks advice and money from those they represent.

Just my little contribution to reality.

on edit: I am not a fan of Senator Landrieu or many of her positions.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Kinda like replacing Sherrif Andy Griffith with Tony Soprano.

[wocaonimabi]

8. She is a Republican with a D after her name.

Conservative, Moderate and Centrist Democrats CANNOT be trusted at all they have proved it time and time again.

[NOVA_Dem]

10. How did she get the position? Was there an internal vote?

Or did Harry Reid give it to her to help with her re-election chances?

[Sgent]

25. She's got senority

she's been on the energy committee since she joined the Senate, and was next in line when Wyden moved to the Finance Com. chairmanship.

[KamaAina]

12. One of her predecessors, J. Bennett Johnston,

was widely referred to as "the Senator from Shell".

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Gosh. This couldn't be to help her to get re-elected in an energy/chemical/production state.

Naaaahhh. The Democrats have too much integrity to play politics with the environment. Don't they?

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. HA. Good one. I don't think it'll help; she's gonna get dogged like Kay Hagan did yesterday.

Would that she handles herself better than Senator Hagan did though, and resists the urge to run from the reporters in the parking lot.

[truebluegreen]

18. Sorry, faulty poll. Needs a "Fuck NO!" option.

[Bluenorthwest]

19. I don't approve of Mary Landrieu. In any way. I am happy about Wyden on Finance

but she's not a fit replacement for a dim bulb, much less for Ron Wyden.

[ZombieHorde]

20. We have two corporate parties.

The Dems are better on civil rights, which is really important to me.

[rhett o rick]

21. Civil liberties are very important, but if the middle class is decimated it will make it

harder to retain any gains we may get.

[sadoldgirl]

22. Heck NO

That means we have a climate change deniar in that important place. We don't have the time now for such political games.

[geek tragedy]

23. don't approve, but that's the seniority system for ya

honestly, no good committee for conservadems

[trof]

24. Big Petroleum (oil and gas) bought and paid for LA government from top to bottom decades ago.

Done deal.
They've raped the environment.
Destroyed wetlands that could have mitigated hurricanes.
But you already knew that.

[spanone]

26. oy

[madville]

28. I hate when positions are based solely on seniority

Anywhere. I worked in a union plant 20 years ago and my only complaint was every promotion was based solely on seniority. Work history, supervisor evaluations, abilities, experience, etc didn't even factor in, the only factor was the day you were hired compared to the others on this list.

It did lead to some rather entertaining personnel mismatches over the years though.

Back on topic though, a Senator from an energy hub state running the energy committee? Gee, wonder whose interests will be addressed?

[PDittie]

29. This might be the only thing that

gets her re-elected over her Republican challenger. I realize she is one of the least desirable Democrats in the Senate, but her seat might be key to holding the chamber.

That's really all I can offer in her defense.

[davidpdx]

32. As a senator she is about as desirable as a burnt piece of toast

So I agree with you. I feel the same way about several other senators and my own representative.

[davidpdx]

30. No, but given her seniority (22nd)

I'm not sure there was much of a choice. There in lies the problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seniority_in_the_United_States_Senate

[Zorra]

31. Like putting a wolverine in charge of the henhouse. nt

[hrmjustin]

33. I think they shoukd revisit the issue after the elections.

[frwrfpos]

34. par for the course