Shimkus Sends Others To Deadly, Dirty Work
U.S. Representative John Shimkus has been wildly enthusiastic about continued reliance on dangerous, dirty fossil fuels such as coal and oil. He’s said that he loves coal and oil so much that, “I want to drill, baby, drill, and I want to mine coal.”
But then, if Congressman Shimkus truly wants to drill oil and mine coal so much, why doesn’t he just go drill oil and mine coal? Shimkus hasn’t done that. Shimkus hasn’t gotten a job on an offshore drilling rig. Shimkus won’t take a job as a coal miner.
Increased drilling for oil and mining for coal has been a rather convenient stance for Representative Shimkus to take, given that he won’t be doing any of the dirty and dangerous work himself. Shimkus doesn’t really want to drill or mine. He wants other people to drill and mine for him. Shimkus ought to remember that many of those people, like the victims of the Upper Big Branch coal mine and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, have ended up dead.
But, then, John Shimkus depends upon coal and oil political action committees for his re-election. With half a year left to go in this year’s campaign, Shimkus has already taken thousands of dollars from corporate PACs representing companies like Arch Coal, Foundation Coal, Peabody Energy, the National Mining Association, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Halliburton, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, Marathon Oil, the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers.
