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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDo you approve of Mary Landrieu replacing Ron Wyden as Chair of the Energy Committee?
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.
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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.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/02/12/as-energy-panel-chair-landrieu-marks-a-major-shift-from-wyden/
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Hell, yes. Time to stop liberals from persecuting big oil, coal and gas! | |
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No, I think her ties to big energy producing companies are a conflict | |
8 (89%) |
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Duh. I dunno | |
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Waaah. This poll is weighted. (No shit) | |
1 (11%) |
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A Republican would be worse (True, but not an option at the moment) | |
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0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided. | |
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Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll |

cali
(114,904 posts)Champion Jack
(5,378 posts)Now this bullshit
Not a fan of her.
a kennedy
(32,691 posts)doh, NO, not a good idea.
Autumn
(47,195 posts)and disgusting.
A big conflict of interest.
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)republicans....She's already in the energy cartels pocket and they'd love to have her at the controls.

cali
(114,904 posts)Is it worth it? Maybe, but it's a steep price and a slippery slope.
Autumn
(47,195 posts)
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)Autumn
(47,195 posts)It reeks of corruption.
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)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
(50,414 posts)wocaonimabi
(187 posts)Conservative, Moderate and Centrist Democrats CANNOT be trusted at all they have proved it time and time again.
NOVA_Dem
(620 posts)Or did Harry Reid give it to her to help with her re-election chances?
Sgent
(5,858 posts)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
(78,249 posts)was widely referred to as "the Senator from Shell".
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)Naaaahhh. The Democrats have too much integrity to play politics with the environment. Don't they?
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)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
(9,033 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)but she's not a fit replacement for a dim bulb, much less for Ron Wyden.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)The Dems are better on civil rights, which is really important to me.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)harder to retain any gains we may get.
sadoldgirl
(3,431 posts)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
(68,868 posts)honestly, no good committee for conservadems
trof
(54,273 posts)Done deal.
They've raped the environment.
Destroyed wetlands that could have mitigated hurricanes.
But you already knew that.

madville
(7,540 posts)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
(8,322 posts)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
(22,000 posts)So I agree with you. I feel the same way about several other senators and my own representative.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)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
(27,670 posts)hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)frwrfpos
(517 posts)