The Register-Guard hammers Walden for "cynical attempt to salvage his reputation"
For Immediate
Release
Contact: Marc Siegel
Tuesday, August 5,
2008
The Register-Guard hammers Walden for "cynical attempt to salvage his
reputation"
Portland
- Congressman Greg Walden, The Register-Guard isn't falling for it.
In a hard hitting editorial today, the Eugene
newspaper lambasted the Republican U.S. House member and 2010 gubernatorial
candidate for putting the interests of oil and gas companies above Oregon's 33 counties
that rely on timber payments.
Key Excerpts:
"If Walden were serious about helping rural counties, he
blew the last and best opportunity to renew payments by opposing DeFazio's
county payments bill."
"Walden's cynical attempt to salvage his reputation in rural
counties won't work.
As voters in those counties continue to reel from
eviscerating budget cuts, they will remember Walden's decision to put oil and
gas interests above those of struggling counties, and it is unlikely they will
forget by the time Oregon
elects a new governor two years from now."
"Now Walden has left no doubt where his loyalties lie. In a
move intended to silence critics who say he has put oil and gas interests above
those of rural counties, Walden has introduced a new bill that would lift restrictions
on offshore exploration for oil and gas and use a portion of the revenue from
lease sales to continue county payments."
Full Editorial:
Walden ploy won't
work
He's still putting
Big Oil's interests over counties'
August 5, 2008
The Register Guard
Congressman Greg Walden needs to repair his
battered reputation in this state's timber counties, especially if he plans, as
often rumored, to run for governor in two years. But the Oregon Republican's
proposal to enable the federal government to renew federal payments to timber
counties by opening the nation's coastlines to drilling isn't the way to do it.
Walden dismayed many rural Oregonians in June
when he played a key role in defeating a bill sponsored by Oregon Democrat
Peter DeFazio that would have continued timber payments for another four years.
Even though the payments are vital to rural counties such as Lane and Douglas -
and others such as Josephine and Curry face possible dissolution if the
payments are not renewed - Walden voted against DeFazio's bill. Such a move
might have been defensible if Walden were holding out for a better deal for the
counties, but he was protecting oil and gas companies' profits by blocking a
move to offset the cost of county payments by closing a loophole on royalties
charged for offshore leases.
Now Walden has left no doubt where his
loyalties lie. In a move intended to silence critics who say he has put oil and
gas interests above those of rural counties, Walden has introduced a new bill
that would lift restrictions on offshore exploration for oil and gas and use a
portion of the revenue from lease sales to continue county payments.
Walden is one of many Republicans, including
presidential candidate John McCain, who are eager to allow oil exploration in
areas currently off limits, including the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. They are
attempting to capitalize on Americans' frustration with $4.50-per-gallon gas
prices, even though offshore crude would not reach the corner pump for at least
a decade - and would have little impact on either gas prices or U.S. dependence
on foreign oil.
But Walden's introduction of his Security and
Energy for America Act is intended primarily to reassure his rural conservative
base that he hasn't abandoned them. The congressman is well aware that his bill
is unlikely to go anywhere in the Democratic-controlled House, where Speaker
Nancy Pelosi refuses to allow a floor vote on offshore drilling.
If Walden were serious about helping rural
counties, he blew the last and best opportunity to renew payments by opposing
DeFazio's county payments bill. It would have offset the estimated $1.9 billion
cost of renewing payments for four years by requiring oil and gas offshore
leaseholders to pay a fee to compensate the government for royalties that they
should be paying in a time of record energy prices.
Walden sided with oil and gas interests then,
and he is siding with them again by introducing a bill that holds rural
counties hostage to offshore drilling. That would give the energy industry
carte blanche access to this nation's coastal waters. That would expose coastal
economies and environments to the ever-present risk of accidents from oil
exploration, extraction and transport. That overlooks that three-fourths of the
known U.S.
oil and gas reserves are located in areas where drilling already is allowed and
thousands of leases have yet to be tapped. That ignores the need to move away
from fossil fuels and build an energy future based on efficiency, conservation,
renewable resources and forward-looking technologies.
Walden's cynical attempt to salvage his
reputation in rural counties won't work.
As voters in those counties continue to reel from eviscerating budget cuts,
they will remember Walden's decision to put oil and gas interests above those
of struggling counties, and it is unlikely they will forget by the time Oregon
elects a new governor two years from now.
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