Tim Griffin Taking Polluted Money
Tim Griffin calls himself the “common sense conservative for Congress” in the 2nd district of Arkansas, being vacated by Blue Dog incumbent Vic Snyder. When it comes to environmental issues, Griffin says, “I support commonsense solutions to environmental questions that address long-term concerns while not putting American businesses at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy” Is it common sense, however, to spew huge amounts of toxic substances into the air, to be breathed by your neighbors 21 times in just 5 years?
No, of course, that’s not common sense. It’s criminal, actually. Yet, that’s just what the Murphy Oil Corporation has been caught doing. This week, a judge ruled that a single Murphy Oil refinery in Louisiana exceeded legal limits of pollution at least 21 times since 2004. Murphy Oil doesn’t even dispute most of the accusations. Can you imagine the amount of pollution coming from Murphy Oil’s other facilities?
Apparently, Tim Griffin can’t. Or, if he can imagine that amount of pollution, he’s willing to look the other way.
Murphy Oil has a long history of serious pollution violations. The oil drilling company spilled 25,000 barrels of liquid containing crude oil. The spill washed over a huge area, polluting the land of of 3,800 neighbors of Murphy’s oil refinery.
In spite of this history, Tim Griffin has accepted multiple donations from executives of the Murphy Oil Corporation – donations which appear to have been coordinated by the corporation itself, which would be illegal. The Murphy Oil Corporation Political Action Committee has also given money to the Griffin for Congress campaign. In fact, there isn’t any congressional candidate in the entire USA who has taken more money from the Murphy Oil PAC than Tim Griffin.
Why would the Murphy Oil Corporation give so much money to the Tim Griffin for Congress campaign? Perhaps it has something to do with Griffin’s pledge to support the continued reliance on dirty energy resources such as coal and oil, including “drilling wherever possible”. Would that drilling wherever possible include your neighborhood? Would you accept a big oil company like Murphy Oil treating you in the way that it has treated the neighbors it already has?
