Friday, June 04, 2010

The Many Colors of the Gulf of Mexico and Congressman Don Young... by gimleteye


Congressman Don Young is another of Alaska's gifts from the GOP. When readers wonder why I'm not tougher on the Obama administration and its appointees on the response to the Gulf Oil catastrophe, all I have to do is recall that during the Bush terms and GOP majority in Congress, Don Young was the powerful chair of the House Natural Resources Committee who stood in the way of environmental regulations like the ten foot stuffed Kodiak bear that reared at visitors to his office. The Huffington Post reports, "Don't worry about the oil spilling into the Gulf, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) says, because the worst spill in U.S. history is "not an environmental disaster," just nature taking its course." What does Young think about the fact that 20 years after the Exxon Valdez in Alaska waters, the environment and income of thousands has still not recovered "We will lose some birds, we will lose some fixed sealife, but overall it will recover," Young said, dismissing the Gulf disaster.

(Model provided by National Center for Atmospheric Research)
Young has close ties to the Florida GOP Congressional delegation. In 2006, The Department of Justice (DOJ) investigated Young for earmarking $10 million dollars for a construction project that threatened Everglades wetlands in exchange for campaign donations. In 2005, while in Florida to discuss upcoming transportation projects, Rep. Young attended a fundraiser held by Daniel Aronoff, a land developer who stood to gain financially from the passage of an Interstate 75 expansion. The fundraiser brought in $40,000 for Rep. Young and Mr. Aranoff personally donated a total of $3,000 to Rep. Young’s campaign committee and PAC. Shortly after his Florida trip, Rep. Young earmarked $10 million in the fiscal year 2006 transportation bill for I-75 improvements. After the Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to block the interchange, Rep. Young threatened to revoke the money entirely. In 2008, both the House and Senate voted to direct the DOJ to launch an investigation into the 2005 earmark for the interchange at Coconut Road. After the calls for the inquiry, Rep. Young admitted that he sponsored the earmark and that his staff “corrected” an already enrolled bill by inserting the earmark shortly before the bill went to the White House to be signed by the president.

2 comments:

Maxwell said...

If you are suggesting Don Young is a sleazy corrupt anti-environment congressman, you are correct. But at least the Republicans had the decency to strip him of his seniority and the Republican establishment nearly toppled him in his last primary (the effort to unseat him was led by Sarah Palin). I am still waiting for the Democrats to give Charlie Rangel the same treatment.

However, you are incorrect about when Young served as chair of the natural resources committee. I know you are someone who loves to blame Bush for everything, but Young was chair during the Clinton years. If my memory serves me, Young was removed from his chairman role in January 2001 by his fellow Republicans in the weeks before G.W. Bush took office.

Anonymous said...

And this is why I love this blog. How do you guys keep all this stuff in your head!

Yeah, some bad stuff happened with Clinton. I guess Bush was so awful, Clinton tends gets a free pass.