Why is it, after the worst environmental disaster in US history, that Congress can’t pass an energy or climate bill?  Why can’t the Senate even pass an oil spill response bill?  Because of the money in politics, and the massive money in oil and coal and gas.  Many (most?) politicians are no longer motivated by doing what’s right or good for the country, they are motivated by money.  So now there is a new site where you can look up your congress persons and see who is “motivating” them.   Check out this new site, Dirty Energy Money, to see some dirty energy interests behind Congress.

For instance, my Congresswoman, the climate change denier Michele Bachmann (R-MN), has taken almost $84,000 in dirty oil and coal money.   That’s not all that much for a Senator, but it’s quite a lot for a Congresswoman from one little district in Minnesota.  Even the progressive Al Franken has taken about $21,000 in oil and coal money.  That does influence them, and they should not be taking any of that money.  The reason is that it colors their votes, it prevents clean climate change legislation from even being voted on, and it is harming everyone in the country.  Senator Amy Klobuchar has taken $45,000 in dirty energy money, and most of it from coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel of all.  I have to say that shocks me a little bit.  It’s possible to win elections without taking money from fossil fuels, isn’t it?

It’s not just people running for office that are tainted by their loyalties to Big Oil. This morning on a TV talk show, Carol Browner, the President’s environmental director, claimed that scientists are looking at the Gulf water and the “tests show nothing of concern”. That is an outrageous statement and has to be a deliberately  misleading claim by our government of what is still in the water.  People who live down there report oil being seen every day.

This is no minor political game, because that oil is very dangerous to human health. What does crude oil contain? Cancer-causing agents, for one thing. The next article here will contain more information on the health effects of this oil spill, but meanwhile here is a photo taken by a Gulf resident.  This photo was taken on August 6th, and you can see many more here.

Eat the seafood at your own risk . . . . Photo taken August 6, 2010

Read Carol Browner’s misleading claims on Meet the Press here and see the entire broadcast there too.  She can’t possibly believe her own words when she says that most of the oil is gone — just disappeared. 

MS. BROWNER: I think it’s also important to note that our scientists have done an initial assessment and more than three-quarters of the oil is gone, the vast majority of the oil is gone.

That defies all common sense. Do they really expect us to believe that?

I can’t believe our government is [...]