We at Environment Massachusetts have been making this case for a while now and will continue our campaign to educate voters on the public health and environmental hazard Sen. Brown poses if he keeps this up in the Senate.
In fairness to the Senator, he has said and done good things on energy efficiency and land conservation bills, and I am still hopeful that he reverts back to state senator Scott Brown when it comes to environmental issues.
Please share widely!
Charley,
I thought I was too late and you’d beat me to the punch. I should note that the national enviro groups are all-a-twitter, this was a great collaborative effort on the part of the enviro and public health communities, so I tip my hat to all of those involved in educating and advocating to the Globe to get this printed.
I find Brown’s record as a US Senator to be completely disappointing on global warming. And it’s inexplicable, except that he’s simply owned by special interests eg. the likes of the Koch brothers. Happens all the time, unfortunately.
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p>He’s no moderate. This is hard-right crap he’s pushing.
Does he believe that global warming is real or that people are causing global warming?
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p>Why is it impossible to find the terms global warming or climate change on his web site?
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p>Why does he continue to make the false claim that EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions would affect restaurants and small farmers?
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p>Why do the media (today was a bit of an exception), other politicians, and the public allow him to get away with refusing to answer these questions?
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p>2. Because they aren’t there, it seems…
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p>3. Good question, where is the most recent place you have seen that? I saw a note to his constituents that said that, but I was hoping he had stopped that…
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p>4.Well, it seems that our senior senator isn’t allowing him to get away with it.
By election day, every voter should understand that Brown’s a good-looking guy, but he’s fundamentally at odds with the people of Massachusetts.
Here’s what I learned from the People’s Senator in a very recent email “We cannot have every restaurant owner or small farmer worried about the costs of complying with new carbon dioxide emissions restrictions.” This is exactly what he falsely claimed in the Cape Cod Times last June. Over the last 10 months to the best of my knowledge no one has called him out on this: it must be great to be able to make stuff up over and over and over again.
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p>The only thing worse may be the cowards who would rather hold onto their house seats forever than risk losing an election.
It would help the cause of holding Slippery Scott to account.
Historian,
It might make sense to send an LTE to the Globe quoting the text of that letter. A scan would, of course, also help. I think a member or activist of ours has already sent me a scanned copy, I’ll have to look through my files to find it, if I do, I’ll post it here.
Ben
The cut and paste job from last June’s Cape Cod Times Op-Ed is in the fourth paragraph:
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p>Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns over the regulation of greenhouse gases by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As always, I value your input on this and other issues, and strive to keep you updated on the important issues facing us today.
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p> While serving as a member of the Massachusetts State Legislature, I supported several measures that provided common sense incentives for clean energy innovation and a transition to a low carbon economy. I believe this is an integral part of protecting and preserving our environment for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren.
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p> In the U.S. Senate, I have worked with Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) on legislation that would sharply limit sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, and have joined with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) to cosponsor legislation that would establish the Home Star home energy conservation rebate program to increase energy efficiency in our homes and create jobs. I remain committed to developing cleaner sources of energy, but also believe we should do it in a way that does not hurt our chances to improve the economy and put people back to work.
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p> While many of my colleagues have argued that giving the EPA the ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions is the answer to our energy problems, I disagree. This action would give an unelected and unaccountable government agency the power to impose restrictive and damaging carbon dioxide regulations that will drive up energy prices and hurt job-creating small businesses in Massachusetts and across the nation. We cannot have every restaurant owner or small farmer worried about the costs of complying with new carbon dioxide emissions restrictions. Furthermore, imposing this regulation of emissions is something that will affect every aspect of our economy and every American. Decisions pertaining to this serious issue should have a full and open debate in Congress.
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p> I believe there are better, more responsible ways to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, which do not cede significant influence to the EPA and ultimately break the back of our economy. Those efforts include encouraging greater energy efficiency in our homes, vehicles and offices. It also means investment in developing additional sources of natural gas and allowing for new nuclear power generation, as well as fostering more renewable energy production. In addition, we should pursue incentives and logistical assistance to encourage our automotive fleet to move away from oil toward natural gas, efficient battery technology, and other low carbon transportation fuels. We should also consider more funding for basic research into the energy breakthroughs of tomorrow, such as algae-based fuel.
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p> Massachusetts is home to some of the world’s top technology leaders, companies, and institutions, and we should harness this knowledge and innovation to find new, cost effective solutions to address these significant issues. We have great potential to transition to a nation focused on clean energy. We must act, but we must do so in a way that maximizes potential job benefits and does not burden our economy with unnecessary costs at a time when it is still recovering.
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p> Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I will keep your views in mind should the full Senate debate energy and climate change legislation. If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact me or visit my website at http://www.scottbrown.senate.gov.
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p> Sincerely,
Scott P. Brown
United States Senator
And in case anyone was thinking what Sen. Brown is saying might be true, it’s not.
the Globe runs a front-page story about the impact of rising sea levels on Massachusetts. It’s kind of ironic that Scott did so well on the Cape and along the South Shore. What kind of rise in sea levels would it take to submerge chez Scott in Wrentham?