AI
Sunday, September 18, 2011 3:39:32 AM
Coal Industry Backs Boehner
A bulldozer moves coal at Foresight Energy's Pond Creek coal mine in Johnson City, Ill., last year.
Bloomberg News
Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio has been a longtime supporter of the industry's.
Associated Press
By BRODY MULLINS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
U.S. coal companies have pumped $1.5 million into House Speaker John Boehner's political operation this year, a sign of the industry's beefed-up efforts to fight new and proposed regulations from the Obama administration.
The coal industry now ranks as one of the top sources of cash for the Ohio Republican, rivaling such perennial GOP donors as Wall Street and the real-estate industry. A large part of the coal industry's donations came in a single week at the end of June.
Donations from coal-industry interests account for more than 10% of the $12.5 million Mr. Boehner collected from Jan. 1 to June 30 for fund-raising accounts he directly controls. Mr. Boehner's personal campaign account collected less than $200,000 from the coal industry during the entire 2009-10 election cycle.
The cash flowing to Mr. Boehner's coffers stems partly from the GOP's efforts to roll back the Obama administration's environmental and energy policies since taking control of the House in 2010, and replace them with fewer regulations in order to boost domestic energy production. Republicans say proposals to curb pollution from coal-fired power plants and limit mining threaten to raise energy costs and stifle job-creation. The speaker has long been a backer of the coal industry, and many coal interests are based in his home state of Ohio.
In April, the House voted to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions from coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources. In July, the House approved legislation that would limit the EPA's authority to veto water permits previously issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. Other measures benefiting the coal industry are still moving through the House, though they have gone nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Cory Fritz, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, said the money from the coal industry represented a small fraction of the roughly $30 million the speaker has raised for the Republican Party this year, a total that includes money he has helped raise by headlining fund-raisers for other Republicans or signing his name to fund-raising pitches.
"The speaker is thankful to have generous supporters who share his vision of how a smaller, less costly government can help create a better environment for long-term job growth," Mr. Fritz said.
Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, an environmentalist group, said, "The House majority acts like whatever the coal industry wants is good for America."
Just as the coal industry gives predominantly to Republicans, environmental groups tend to support Democrats. In the 2010 election, for example, the League of Conservation Voters spent about $5.5 million on behalf of mostly Democratic candidates for Congress. A recent fund-raising appeal from the group said: "Don't Let Congress Mess With the EPA's Ability to Protect Our Air."
One top donor to Mr. Boehner this year has been William Koch, president of Oxbow Corp., which owns a coal-mining operation. Mr. Koch and his wife contributed a total of $70,000 to Mr. Boehner, according to fund-raising records. Two of Mr. Koch's brothers are well-known Republican contributors.
"We are a big supporter of John Boehner. We think he is good for business," said Brad Goldstein, a spokesman for Oxbow, based in West Palm Beach, Fla. "He looks out for business interests, and he wants to create more jobs for America, while this administration has been rather harsh on the industry."
The National Mining Association, which represents the coal industry, has cheered the House's actions. The group says limiting the EPA's authority to veto water permits will "deliver important benefits to the entire economy by providing certainty" to mining and other industries that need such permits.
The coal industry has ramped up political giving since President Barack Obama's election. In the latest election cycle, the coal industry made a total of $8 million in campaign donations, more than double the $3.5 million it donated during the 2008 campaign, according to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political giving. About 75% of the donations went to Republicans.
Most of the industry's donations to Mr. Boehner went to a special fund-raising account he established last year that can legally accept donations higher than the normal limits on campaign contributions. Mr. Boehner can use the money for his re-election campaign or donate it directly to other Republican candidates. Donors to Mr. Boehner's personal re-election account can only donate $5,000 during the current election cycle.
Top donors to Mr. Boehner's account include employees of American Electric Power Co. and FirstEnergy Corp., two Ohio-based utilities that rely heavily on coal.
A spokesman for FirstEnergy said the company has been a longtime supporter of Mr. Boehner's. American Electric Power is based in Ohio, said a spokeswoman, "so it makes sense that we would support his campaigns."
Write to Brody Mullins at brody.mullins@wsj.com
Copyright ©2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904103404576556871267990448.html [with comments]
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A bulldozer moves coal at Foresight Energy's Pond Creek coal mine in Johnson City, Ill., last year.
Bloomberg News
Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio has been a longtime supporter of the industry's.
Associated Press
By BRODY MULLINS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
U.S. coal companies have pumped $1.5 million into House Speaker John Boehner's political operation this year, a sign of the industry's beefed-up efforts to fight new and proposed regulations from the Obama administration.
The coal industry now ranks as one of the top sources of cash for the Ohio Republican, rivaling such perennial GOP donors as Wall Street and the real-estate industry. A large part of the coal industry's donations came in a single week at the end of June.
Donations from coal-industry interests account for more than 10% of the $12.5 million Mr. Boehner collected from Jan. 1 to June 30 for fund-raising accounts he directly controls. Mr. Boehner's personal campaign account collected less than $200,000 from the coal industry during the entire 2009-10 election cycle.
The cash flowing to Mr. Boehner's coffers stems partly from the GOP's efforts to roll back the Obama administration's environmental and energy policies since taking control of the House in 2010, and replace them with fewer regulations in order to boost domestic energy production. Republicans say proposals to curb pollution from coal-fired power plants and limit mining threaten to raise energy costs and stifle job-creation. The speaker has long been a backer of the coal industry, and many coal interests are based in his home state of Ohio.
In April, the House voted to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions from coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources. In July, the House approved legislation that would limit the EPA's authority to veto water permits previously issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. Other measures benefiting the coal industry are still moving through the House, though they have gone nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Cory Fritz, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, said the money from the coal industry represented a small fraction of the roughly $30 million the speaker has raised for the Republican Party this year, a total that includes money he has helped raise by headlining fund-raisers for other Republicans or signing his name to fund-raising pitches.
"The speaker is thankful to have generous supporters who share his vision of how a smaller, less costly government can help create a better environment for long-term job growth," Mr. Fritz said.
Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, an environmentalist group, said, "The House majority acts like whatever the coal industry wants is good for America."
Just as the coal industry gives predominantly to Republicans, environmental groups tend to support Democrats. In the 2010 election, for example, the League of Conservation Voters spent about $5.5 million on behalf of mostly Democratic candidates for Congress. A recent fund-raising appeal from the group said: "Don't Let Congress Mess With the EPA's Ability to Protect Our Air."
One top donor to Mr. Boehner this year has been William Koch, president of Oxbow Corp., which owns a coal-mining operation. Mr. Koch and his wife contributed a total of $70,000 to Mr. Boehner, according to fund-raising records. Two of Mr. Koch's brothers are well-known Republican contributors.
"We are a big supporter of John Boehner. We think he is good for business," said Brad Goldstein, a spokesman for Oxbow, based in West Palm Beach, Fla. "He looks out for business interests, and he wants to create more jobs for America, while this administration has been rather harsh on the industry."
The National Mining Association, which represents the coal industry, has cheered the House's actions. The group says limiting the EPA's authority to veto water permits will "deliver important benefits to the entire economy by providing certainty" to mining and other industries that need such permits.
The coal industry has ramped up political giving since President Barack Obama's election. In the latest election cycle, the coal industry made a total of $8 million in campaign donations, more than double the $3.5 million it donated during the 2008 campaign, according to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political giving. About 75% of the donations went to Republicans.
Most of the industry's donations to Mr. Boehner went to a special fund-raising account he established last year that can legally accept donations higher than the normal limits on campaign contributions. Mr. Boehner can use the money for his re-election campaign or donate it directly to other Republican candidates. Donors to Mr. Boehner's personal re-election account can only donate $5,000 during the current election cycle.
Top donors to Mr. Boehner's account include employees of American Electric Power Co. and FirstEnergy Corp., two Ohio-based utilities that rely heavily on coal.
A spokesman for FirstEnergy said the company has been a longtime supporter of Mr. Boehner's. American Electric Power is based in Ohio, said a spokeswoman, "so it makes sense that we would support his campaigns."
Write to Brody Mullins at brody.mullins@wsj.com
Copyright ©2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904103404576556871267990448.html [with comments]
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Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
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