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”.

Ping. Pong. Ping. Pong.
Back and forth go the volleys of favors between Chet Edwards and the utility corporation called Energy Future Holdings. It’s like watching a tennis game, minus the short white skirts.
A visit to the Sunlight Foundation’s Political Party Time reveals only the latest whiffer to cross the net that [...]

The following is our transcription of testimony made this morning, November 19 2009, by Dr. Jeffrey Short of Oceana to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The topic: the environmental impact of offshore oil drilling on marine ecosystems and policy protections that should be implemented.
Good morning. I am the Pacific Science Director [...]

The best way to prevent oil spills is to stop the expansion of offshore drilling, reducing the number of petroleum-laden tankers and offshore platforms littering our nation’s coastlines. However, given the offshore drilling that already exists, the Oil Spill Prevention Act is an important bill that every senator should be able to support.

This week, explaining his opposition to the Solar Technology Roadmap Act, U.S. Representative Tom McClintock said he opposes solar power because it’s too expensive. McClintock said:
The cheapest form of electricity generation is hydroelectric. It ranges from a quarter cent to 2.7 cents per kilowatt hour – average around 1.5 cents.
Then comes nuclear power, [...]

First, these lobbyists convinced members of Congress to vote in favor of expanded offshore drilling – but with the idea that Representatives could create special protections for their own states, letting other states take all the risks. Now that the barriers to new drilling have been taken down, members of state delegations to the House of Representatives have put together legislation that would ban offshore drilling, but only in their own states. Each little state-based coalition lacks the votes it needs for its own bill.

Seadrill, one of the companies involved in the Australian spill, has set up offices in Houston and is targeting the Gulf of Mexico for additional operations. Congressman Parker Griffith seems to think that’s just fine – but then, he’s got nothing to lose.

Many Democratic senators supported Sunstein even though progressives have expressed concern about Sunstein’s sort of approach to regulation for years.

I’m not about to say that Representative Devin Nunes is tripping over himself to cater to the demands of every industrial agribusiness in his district, but is content to let human beings die. That would be too extreme. It would be a bit more accurate, however, than the accusations Nunes has hurled at environmentalists.

The entire planet, in the view of Shimkus, should defer to the profitability of those two coal mines.