I've been secretly hoping our chosen leaders were directing our Nations Energy Policy in the right direction. When I read articles such as this one I get T-d off. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!! If you need help finding your legislators I'll be glad to assist. email me
Why We Advocate July 29, 2010
An anecdote, to start with…A colleague, on a recent visit to Washington DC, found himself in conversation with a recently retired, well-known and -respected U.S. senator. He took the opportunity to ask him what it would take for a congressman to vote for an issue that he knew in his heart was right for the country and the planet, irrespective of partisan attachments and personal considerations. The retired senator (whom, in order not to betray a trust, we will not name, but who is known as a strong supporter of energy independence) replied that only when the congressman no longer needed an influx of money, e.g., after he had decided not to run for office again, might this happen. Until then he would always vote in accordance with his source of funding, working hard to produce whatever arguments were needed to justify his vote.
Lamentably, the above is probably not particularly surprising to readers. The pernicious influence of 'big money' in politics (one would say 'campaigns' except that campaigns seem to be a permanent condition of politics today) is well known, but it's sobering to hear a veteran legislator sympathetic to renewable energy confirm, in effect, that until our industry can throw money at his former colleagues with as much abandon as does the fossil fuel industry, then that latter industry can absolutely count on congressional votes in its favor. What works for the country, what is needed for the health of the planet, what can revitalize American jobs and create new industries here will always lose out to the demands of the campaign chest.
Unless…
Well, there's always an 'unless', isn't there? And in this case, it came from the retired senator, who asserted that the only exception to the above-described dynamic would occur if the congressman were convinced that enough constituents would predicate their vote for or against him on a single issue, to negate the effects of massive campaign contributions.
And that's why we advocate. We beat the drum for solar energy and all the reasons why it makes sense - energy independence, climate regulation, clean energy, sustainability and more - because we want our elected legislators to hear something other than the sound of money falling into their war chests. And we work for the day when those legislators turn to their deep-pocket corporate contributors and say (apologetically) that they would like to oblige them on this upcoming vote, but there are so many voters in their districts demanding action on clean energy that, for once, they have to do what the people want.
Wouldn't that be special?
Article sent by email to me from: http://www.solar-nation.org
You can also check contributions during political campaigns. Barack Obama received $898, 251 from oil companies during his winning 2008 campaign, most of that coming from ExxonMobil ($113646). BP gave President Obama $39405.
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