The 11 Democrats who voted to Poison Americans’ Drinking Water (and the 9 Republicans who didn’t)
Last year, the Department of the Interior published regulations to keep the carcinogenic and otherwise poisonous rubble created by mountaintop removal mining out of the streams that sustain wildlife and (if you want to be anthropocentric) feed into the drinking water supplies for millions of Americans. Last month, Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio introduced H.Amdt 131 to block the federal government from any effort to enforce this regulation. Johnson’s amendment allows mining corporations to continue taking off the tops of mountains, extracting profit, dumping their refuse in streams, and leaving Americans with poisoned water.
H.Amdt 131 passed in a 239-186 roll call vote thanks to broad Republican support (228 voting for it) and despite broad Democratic opposition (177 voting against it). But there are some notable exceptions to this trend. The following are members of Congress who acted against the party trend in this mining deregulation vote.
Democrats Who Voted to Allow Stream Dumping in Mountaintop Removal, February 18 2011:
Rep. Jason Altmire (PA District 4)
Rep. Dan Boren (OK District 2)
Rep. Jerry Costello (IL District 12)
Rep. Mark Critz (PA District 12)
Rep. Joe Donnelly (IN District 2)
Rep. Tim Holden (PA District 17)
Rep. Jim Matheson (UT District 2)
Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC District 7)
Rep. Collin Peterson (MN District 7)
Rep. Nick Rahall (WV District 3)
Rep. Mike Ross (AR District 4)
Republicans Who Voted to Preserve Regulations Against Stream Dumping in Mountaintop Removal, February 18 2011:
Rep. Charles Bass (NH District 2)
Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (PA District 8 )
Rep. Nan Hayworth (NY District 19)
Rep. Timothy Johnson (IL District 15)
Rep. Leonard Lance (NJ District 7)
Rep. Michael McCaul (TX District 10)
Rep. Dave Reichert (WA District 8 )
Rep. Christopher Smith (NJ District 4)
Rep. Frank Wolf (VA District 10)
