When Blue Dog Democrat Harry Mitchell explained his vote against against the American Clean Energy and Security Act on June 26 last year, he gave several justifications for his effort to block the climate legislation. One of those justifications was particularly curious:

Representative Mitchell said that he was, “deeply concerned by a provision stuck into this bill that would give the federal government the power to overrule Arizona’s decisions about where we choose to place our power lines. The Arizona Corporation Commission should retain control of these decisions, not regulators in Washington.”

That statement is particularly curious because it just so happens to coincide with the interests of an energy utility corporation, Pinnacle West Capital.

Pinnacle West Capital’s corporate political action committee has some money to Harry Mitchell recently: $2500 in the current election cycle so far, and $7500 for the 2008 election. PACs are limited in the amounts that they can give, though, so Pinnacle West Capital has found other ways to be of special assistance to Harry Mitchell.

Some of this special assistance came just as Harry Mitchell was preparing to make his final decisions about the American Clean Energy Security Act. Mitchell’s decisions about the bill carried more weight than most other members of the House of Representatives. That’s because Mitchell is a member of two committees that had the opportunity to review and vote on the legislation before it could come to a floor vote. So, Mitchell was in a position to push for alterations that would make the bill more suitable to powerful energy interests.

Consider the timing of the following events:

June 11, 2009: Harry Mitchell goes to the Washington D.C. office of the Pinnacle West Capital Corporation PAC, to attend an “Energy Industry Reception” that’s been arranged just for him with the help of Pinnacle West. Representatives of the energy industry that are invited to the meeting are told to bring checks for Harry Mitchell of one thousand dollars each.

June 19, 2009: The House Transportation Committee, and the House Science and Technology vote on whether to allow the American Clean Energy and Security Act to progress to the House floor. Congressman Mitchell sits on both committees.

June 26, 2009: It’s a Friday, and the entire House of Representatives votes on the American Clean Energy and Security Act. It’s an extremely close vote – 219 – 212, and Harry Mitchell votes against the bill.

June 29, 2009: Monday, Harry Mitchell’s campaign records a $1,000 contribution from William Post, the President of Pinnacle West Capital.

In the wake of his efforts to defeat 2009′s climate legislation, Representative Mitchell attempted to depict himself as a leader who was merely seeking to pass a better climate bill, not to oppose climate action in general. So, Mitchell promised that he would work for the passage of another, better climate bill. He said, “I remain committed to meaningful reform. I believe we can do better and I look forward to working with my colleagues to achieve a better bill.”

So, what “better bill” to deal with the problem of climate change has Harry Mitchell introduced since this statement? Not a single bill dealing with climate has come from Mitchell’s office since June of last year. He hasn’t cosponsored any new climate bills either.

It seems that when Harry Mitchell says that he’s “committed” and looks “forward to working” on an issue, it means that he’s willing to ignore the issue altogether.