Hastings, Doc Rep

<p>---</p><p>retiring,  i can't find new gig</p><p>=</p><p><span style="font-family: minion-pro, serif; line-height: 30px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.701961);">Along those lines, now-retired Washington Rep. Doc Hastings, R, introduced the Federal Forest County Revenue, Schools, and Jobs Act in 2012. The bill would have set up a county revenue-sharing program, mandated the doubling of logging volumes on national forests and exempted such projects from environmental review. Not surprisingly, environmental groups opposed Hastings’ bill and instead pushed to connect rural county funding to conservation and restoration actions, not logging, in the forests.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: minion-pro, serif; line-height: 30px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.701961);">
</span></p><p><span style="font-family: minion-pro, serif; line-height: 30px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.701961);"></span></p><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-family: 'OFL Sorts Mill Goudy TT', Georgia, serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Obama is an “imperialist” or a monarch for conserving public lands</span></h3><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In response to the announcement that President Obama was planning to protect one of Colorado’s most popular rivers, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_27547814/obama-declare-browns-canyon-colorado-national-monument" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">said</a> of the President: “He is not king. No more acting like King Barack. That is not how we do things in the U.S.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), a former member of the House, <a href="http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060001450" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">called Obama</a> an “imperial president” for expanding a national monument that protects critical areas of the Pacific Ocean. Yet 16 presidents, from both political parties, have protected incredible landscapes using their executive authority, including President George W. Bush.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>Libre Grew Out Of The Bush Administration</strong>. Garza has attributed the launch of the group to working in the Bush administration. Garza <a href="http://mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2015/01/09/38155/cspan-wj-20141022-garzakoch" style="outline: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">said</a> on CSPAN in October 2014: "I served in the Bush administration at the White House and I served with a lot of folks that were very talented. I think had vast capacities who we felt we could leverage their talents and their voice ... we helped to launch [Libre]."</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>Libre's Senior Staff Is Made Up Of Republican Party Operatives</strong>. Here's a brief overview of the Libre Initiative's senior staff and their ties to the Republican Party:</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>Executive Director Daniel Garza.</strong> Garza <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2532279?rel=author" style="outline: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">served</a> in the Bush White House from 2001 to 2006. In 2010, he<a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/house/texas/15" style="outline: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">unsuccessfully ran</a> in the Republican primary for Texas' 15th Congressional District. Garza <a href="http://old.hiphoprepublican.com/general/2010/02/26/daniel-garza-for-texass-15th-congressional-district/" style="outline: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">also worked</a> for </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rep. Doc Hastings</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> (R-WA) and Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA).</span></p><p></p><p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Richard Norman "Doc" Hastings</b> (born February 7, 1941) is an American politician and member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Republican Party</a> who served as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">U.S. Representative</a> for<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%27s_4th_congressional_district" title="Washington's 4th congressional district" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Washington's 4th congressional district</a> from 1995 until his retirement in 2015. The district includes much of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Washington" title="Central Washington" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">central Washington</a> including the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-Cities,Washington" title="Tri-Cities, Washington" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Tri-Cities</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakima" title="Yakima" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Yakima</a>, and<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Lake" title="Moses Lake" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Moses Lake</a>. The most conservative Republican in Washington's Congressional delegation,<sup id="cite_ref-docbids_1-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#cite_note-docbids-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[1]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-mostcon_2-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#cite_note-mostcon-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a></sup> he chaired the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Ethics" title="United States House Committee on Ethics" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">House Committee on Ethics</a> from 2005 to 2007 and has chaired the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Natural_Resources" title="United States House Committee on Natural Resources" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">House Committee on Natural Resources</a> since 2011.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In February 2014, Hastings announced that he would not run for re-election <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Washington,2014" title="United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, 2014" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">in 2014</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-toretire_3-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#cite_note-toretire-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[3]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 7px; font-size: 13.3000001907349px; display: table; zoom: 1; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="color: black; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; font-size: 13.3000001907349px; display: inline; line-height: 1.3; background: none;">Contents</h2> <span class="toctoggle" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: 12.5020008087158px;"> [<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">hide</a>] </span></div><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Early_life.2C_education.2C_and_business_career" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Early life, education, and business career</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Washington_House_of_Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Washington House of Representatives</span></a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Elections" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Elections</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Tenure" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Tenure</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Committee_assignments" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2.3</span> <span class="toctext">Committee assignments</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#U.S.House_of_Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">U.S. House of Representatives</span></a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Elections_2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Elections</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Tenure_2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Tenure</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Committee_assignments_2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.3</span> <span class="toctext">Committee assignments</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Caucus_memberships" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.4</span> <span class="toctext">Caucus memberships</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Legislation_sponsored" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.5</span> <span class="toctext">Legislation sponsored</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Personal_life" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Personal life</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#Electoral_history" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Electoral history</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#See_also" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li></ul></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 16.7999992370605px; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background-image: none;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Protecting_Factory_Farming_from_Regulation" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> 5/15</span></p><div class="full-wide-photo-box" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><p class="photo-caption" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Senator John McCain is just one of many who’ve made crazy statements against protecting national parks and wildlife.</span></p><p class="photo-credit" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b>
</b></p></div><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>When it comes to climate change, some politicians have a penchant for outrageous, headline-grabbing statements. “There isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows carbon dioxide is a harmful gas,” former Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) famously <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2009/04/24/172739/bachmann-harmless-co2/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">told</a> the House of Representatives in 2009.</b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In recent months, however, the flair for the sensational has extended beyond climate, overtaking the rhetoric of some politicians who are eager to weaken protections for America’s parks, wildlife, and conservation laws. In a <a href="http://www.parksandrecreation.org/2015/May/The-Case-for-LWCF-Reform/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">recent op-ed</a>, for example,<b> House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT), used the tragic death of a hiker in Utah as the basis for arguing that one of America’s most popular conservation programs be dismantled.</b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span id="trigger-slidedown" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Congressman Bishop is not alone in his affinity for the melodramatic. Here are six other mind-boggling statements members of Congress have recently made in attempts to undermine the popularity and effectiveness of the laws protecting our lands, water, and wildlife.</span></span></p><div id="in-content-ad" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-family: 'OFL Sorts Mill Goudy TT', Georgia, serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Reintroducing wolves would solve the “homeless problem”</span></h3><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rep. Don Young (R-AK), who is no stranger to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/03/29/1796041/the-wit-and-wisdom-of-congressman-don-young/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">controversial statements</a>, often directs his ire to taxpayer-owned public lands.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/03/05/rep-don-young-wolves-would-solve-homelessness/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">recent rant</a> against the Endangered Species Act and the protection of wolves, Young “mocked” 78 members of Congress who asked the Secretary of the Interior to protect gray wolves.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Young — who has long fought protections for land and wildlife — claimed that their districts would benefit from releasing wolves in urban areas because “you wouldn’t have a homeless problem anymore.”</span></p><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-family: 'OFL Sorts Mill Goudy TT', Georgia, serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">State control of national forests would mean fewer terrorists</span></h3><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Utah state representative Ken Ivory — who has had <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/2015/05/02/colorado-group-files-complaint-alleging-utah-lawmakers-organization-is-illegally-lobbying/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">ethical questions</a> raised against him for his efforts to seize and sell off America’s public lands — has used a potential threat of forest fires started by terrorists to claim the state and private ownership of our national forest, monuments, and other conservation lands would reduce the risk of terrorism. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to the </span><a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/54928087-90/buehler-utah-fires-conditions.html.csp" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Salt Lake Tribune</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">:</span></p><blockquote style="margin: 1.5em; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; font-style: italic; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, said he was told by a terrorism expert that forests are now a terrorist target and argued that the fire risk would be reduced if they were managed by the states instead of the federal government.</span></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In reality, a century of fire suppression, coupled with a warming climate, worsening drought, and longer fire seasons have increased the prevalence of mega fires in Western states. The federal government spends over <a href="http://headwaterseconomics.org/wphw/wp-content/uploads/fire-costs-background-report.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">$3 billion annually</a> to help protect communities from wildfire, a sum that would bankrupt most Western states if national forests were transferred to state ownership.</span></p><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-family: 'OFL Sorts Mill Goudy TT', Georgia, serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Environmental protections enable “drug cartels and human smugglers”</span></h3><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The U.S.-Mexican border is a perennial target of anti-environmental members of Congress, and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/06/3655203/border-patrol-public-lands-bill/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">multiple bills</a> have been introduced that would waive environmental protections on national parks, wilderness, and other public lands on both the northern and southern borders.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">When introducing his most recent bill on the issue, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) <a href="http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=f7414f34-be60-48f6-94bd-e1d0b9ef7efc" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">stated</a> that “For decades, drug cartels and human smugglers have exploited U.S. land management laws by crossing our borders illegally and harming Arizona’s national parks and protected areas.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection <a href="http://www.dhs.gov/news/2011/08/01/statement-record-us-customs-and-border-protection-house-committee-natural-resrouces" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">have testified</a> that existing protections on America’s public lands do not restrict access or inhibit border security, and instead assert that a close working relationship with natural resource agencies “allows [them] to fulfill our border enforcement responsibilities while respecting and enhancing the environment.”</span></p><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-family: 'OFL Sorts Mill Goudy TT', Georgia, serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Drinking water protections will regulate “your grandmother’s bird bath”</span></h3><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency to protect clean drinking water has also been a top target of anti-environment lawmakers and special interests. Detractors claim that the proposed drinking water protections would threaten private property rights and could “apply to every instance where a drop of water touches the earth.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Last year, Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) <a href="http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2014/10/23/pence-slams-epa-clean-waters-rule/17785605/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">called</a> <a href="http://www.toomey.senate.gov/?p=news&id=1318" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">the proposal</a> a “terrifying power grab,” where “common sense has gone out the window.” He went on to say that “the EPA’s new position seems to be that a puddle from your garden hose will ultimately end up in a navigable waterway, so the agency should have dominion over that water too.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity even went as far <a href="http://americansforprosperity.org/stoptheepa/lorem-ipsum-dolor-sit-amet-consectetur-adipiscing-elit-ut-elementum-ante-erat-washington-post-4/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">as asking</a>, “will the EPA soon seek to regulate puddles on your property, baby pools, standing water in the local Wal-Mart parking lot, or your grandmother’s bird bath?”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">However, the proposed <a href="http://www2.epa.gov/cleanwaterrule/ditch-myth" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">clean water rule </a>“does not protect any waters that have not historically been covered under the Clean Water Act,” and instead is intended to only “protect critical streams and wetlands that are currently vulnerable to pollution and destruction.”</span></p><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-family: 'OFL Sorts Mill Goudy TT', Georgia, serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Obama will “negotiate with Iran,” but not on Alaska oil drilling</span></h3><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Angered by the Obama administration’s work to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/alaska-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-obama-114619.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">said</a> that administration “is willing to negotiate with Iran, but they won’t negotiate with Alaska.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In fact, the Obama Administration held extensive public meetings and <a href="http://www.fws.gov/home/arctic-ccp/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">gathered public input</a> from Alaskans on how best to manage the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and is <a href="http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/interior-department-announces-draft-strategy-for-offshore-oil-and-gas-leasing.cfm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">beginning the process</a> for gathering input on whether and where to allow offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">What’s more, the administration’s initial plans for offshore drilling in Alaska would actually allow drilling on <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2015/02/13/106679/drilling-in-the-arctic-or-the-atlantic-it-could-be-all-of-the-above/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">92 percent</a> of the Arctic waters off the state’s coast, notwithstanding Senator Murkowski’s claims that the proposal puts oil and gas resources off limits to development.</span></p><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-family: 'OFL Sorts Mill Goudy TT', Georgia, serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Obama is an “imperialist” or a monarch for conserving public lands</span></h3><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In response to the announcement that President Obama was planning to protect one of Colorado’s most popular rivers, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_27547814/obama-declare-browns-canyon-colorado-national-monument" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">said</a> of the President: “He is not king. No more acting like King Barack. That is not how we do things in the U.S.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), a former member of the House, <a href="http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060001450" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">called Obama</a> an “imperial president” for expanding a national monument that protects critical areas of the Pacific Ocean</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Yet 16 presidents, from both political parties, have protected incredible landscapes using their executive authority, including President George W. Bush.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Some of these same politicians are also fond of accusing the president of a government “land grab” when designating new national monuments, even though national monuments protect lands already owned by the federal government.</span></p><p>=</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, and he wants to overhaul the Endangered Species Act.</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">He uses the word “reform” to describe his intentions, but legions of his critics say he wants to gut the act that has protected more than 1,500 plants, insects, mammals, birds, reptiles and other creatures, according to published tallies.</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Hastings and a dozen other kindred spirits, who formed the ESA Congressional Working Group, see the act as an excuse for lawsuits, with little success recovering species.</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">He opposed the listing of two plants found only in the Hanford Reach. The fight went on forever, with federal protection eventually prevailing, but only on federal property in his Eastern Washington district.</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“As we move into 2014, Hastings’ anti-science antics make it all the more clear how badly we need all these protections, none more than the Endangered Species Act ...,” Noah Greenwald, of the Center for Biological Diversity, wrote for the Huffington Post.</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Hastings wants to shift the ethic and leverage of the federal government to state and local authorities to protect endangered species. The transparently bad idea would mean no protections whatsoever in many areas.</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Oregon’s U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio makes the point the best impediment to Hastings’ pinched vision is the U.S. Senate, which has no interest in tampering with something that works. DeFazio is the ranking member on the House resources committee.</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In the queue for protection is the greater sage-grouse, which is found in 11 western states. The opposition and the themes of the opponents have not changed in four decades of similar battles.</p><p style="margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;">Editorial board members are editorial page editor Kate Riley, Frank A. Blethen, Ryan Blethen, Sharon Pian Chan, Lance Dickie, Jonathan Martin, Thanh Tan, William K. Blethen (emeritus) and Robert C. Blethen (emeritus).</em></p><p>=</p><p><span style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">the Endangered Species Act is under attack</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.600000381469727px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> -- and ferrets, gray wolves, and more than 1,500 other plants and animals it safeguards are in jeopardy. </span><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 12px;"><span style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">[1]</span> </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.600000381469727px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A band of pro-polluter members of Congress, led by Rep. Doc Hastings, is ramming through a series of misleading and devastating bills that would gut the ESA. </span><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 12px;"><span style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">[2]</span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.600000381469727px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> They say their only goal is to "reform" the act, but we know what they really want: </span><span style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">To let corporate polluters profit from logging, mining, and drilling our most vulnerable wildlife into oblivion.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.600000381469727px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Endangered Species Day was last week, but Rep. Hastings and the tea party sure have an odd way of observing it. </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.600000381469727px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Let's send 50,000 messages and remind our legislators that they represent us -- not the corporate polluters. </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=8GI26OV08beG4pbSm7OjiA" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">Take action right now and tell Rep. Zoe Lofgren: Protect our wildlife and save the Endangered Species Act!</a></span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.600000381469727px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">These extreme bills, spawned by a "working group" of politicians backed by Big Ag, Big Oil, and top coal executives, are based on the tired old claims that the ESA doesn't work and hurts our economy.</span><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 12px;"><span style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">[3]</span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.600000381469727px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> But the fact is, protecting natural habitat bolsters our economy to the tune of $1.6 trillion a year, and 99% of all animals ever protected under the act have been saved from extinction -- including the bald eagle, the gray whale, and the grizzly bear. </span><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 12px;"><span style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">[4,5]</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">References: </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">1. FWS staff (2013 October 28). "<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=Wo5EUOzCtGw-HxWV1JOIYg" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">Endangered Species: U.S. Species.</a>" U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">2. The Seattle Times Editorial Board (2014 February 12). "<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=cnKAnA4roWMVoHBW-YFGOw" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">Rep. Doc Hastings Endangers the Endangered Species Act.</a>" <span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">The Seattle Times</span>. </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">3. The Center for Responsive Politics staff (accessed 2014 May 15). "<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=RQyqCCdvIaKUtbItAAAMtw" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">Rep. Doc Hastings</a>." <span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">Opensecrets.org</span>. </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">4. Defenders of Wildlife staff (accessed 2014 May 15). "<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=unlKuwtPE0Hv35qLNqxnvw" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">The Endangered Species Act: Bang For Our Buck.</a>" Defenders of Wildlife. </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">5. Sierra Club staff (accessed 2014 May 15). "<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=Ye-6EojUXwtQXIpFxIBmQA" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">Resilient Habitats: The Endangered Species Act.</a>" Sierra Club. </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">6. Snape, Bill (2014 March 3). "<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=mEpmmMrqe4qEJ6gLr_jNaA" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">Poll: Two-thirds of Americans Want Congress to Strengthen, Protect Endangered Species Act</a>." Center for Biological Diversity. </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">7. Conley, Charlotte (2013 October 10). "<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=zGHo5xymndXpQJuxNu7siQ" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">Endangered Ferrets Return to Fort Belknap.</a>" <span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">Defenders of Wildlife Blog</span>. </span><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="line-height: 17.600000381469727px; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px;">8. <span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">Earthjustice staff (2014 April 8). "</span><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=8rJhRuwNFcyJ4L95tjjd0g" style="color: rgb(103, 133, 178); line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-size: 11pt;">House Majority Aims To Dismantle Endangered Species Act With Piecemeal Approach.</a><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">" Earthjustice.</span> </span></p><p></p><p><a href="http://hastings.house.gov/cleanupcaucus/">http://hastings.house.gov/cleanupcaucus/</a>  nuke</p><p>==

Gunnoe child porn?

<font color="#FF0000">lcv low score: Natural Resources Hastings, Doc (WA-04) <b>3</b></font>    

<a href="http://scorecard.lcv.org/sites/scorecard.lcv.org/files/LCV_Scorecard_2012.pdf">http://scorecard.lcv.org/sites/scorecard.lcv.org/files/LCV_Scorecard_2012.pdf</a>

 </p><p>co chair NW energy caucus w/ daines

<b>Richard Norman "Doc" Hastings</b>, a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/United_States_Republican_Party" title="United States Republican Party" class="mw-redirect">Republican</a>, has represented the Fourth Congressional District of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Members_of_the_U.S.Congress_from_Washington" title="Category:Members of the U.S. Congress from Washington">Washington</a> in the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S.House_of_Representatives" title="U.S. House of Representatives" class="mw-redirect">U.S. House of Representatives</a> <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">since 1995</span>. (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/wa04_109.gif">map</a>)

 </p>

<h2>Contents</h2>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Record_and_controversies"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Record and controversies</span></a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Environmental_record"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Environmental record</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Abramoff_Contributions"><span class="tocnumber">1.3</span> <span class="toctext">Abramoff Contributions</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Firing_of_U.S._attorneys"><span class="tocnumber">1.4</span> <span class="toctext">Firing of U.S. attorneys</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#House_ethics_package_confusion"><span class="tocnumber">1.5</span> <span class="toctext">House ethics package confusion</span></a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Congressional_career"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Congressional career</span></a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-9"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#2006_elections"><span class="tocnumber">2.1.1</span> <span class="toctext">2006 elections</span></a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Money_in_politics"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Money in politics</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Committees_and_Affiliations"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Committees and Affiliations</span></a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Committees"><span class="tocnumber">4.1</span> <span class="toctext">Committees</span></a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-13"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Committee_assignments_in_the_109th_Congress_.282005-2006.29"><span class="tocnumber">4.1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)</span></a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Coalitions_and_Caucuses"><span class="tocnumber">4.2</span> <span class="toctext">Coalitions and Caucuses</span></a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#More_Background_Data"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">More Background Data</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Contact"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Contact</span></a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-17"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#2008_Campaign_Contact_Information"><span class="tocnumber">6.1</span> <span class="toctext">2008 Campaign Contact Information</span></a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Articles_and_resources"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Articles and resources</span></a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-19"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Resources"><span class="tocnumber">7.1</span> <span class="toctext">Resources</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-20"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Local_blogs_and_discussion_sites"><span class="tocnumber">7.2</span> <span class="toctext">Local blogs and discussion sites</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#Articles"><span class="tocnumber">7.3</span> <span class="toctext">Articles</span></a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Record_and_controversies">Record and controversies</span></h2>

<div style=" margin: 0.5em 0.75em 0.5em 0.75em; border-collapse: collapse; background: #dce8f8; border: 1px solid #5c79b5; padding: .25em .25em 0.25em .25em;"><span>General information about important bills and votes for can be found in Congresspedia's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:U.S._legislation" title="Category:U.S. legislation">articles on legislation</a>. You can add information you find on how Doc Hastings voted by clicking the "[edit]" link to the right and typing it in. Remember to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Help:References" title="Help:References">cite your sources</a>!</span></div>

<div style=" margin: 0.5em 0.75em 0.5em 0.75em; border-collapse: collapse; background: #dce8f8; border: 1px solid #5c79b5; padding: .25em .25em 0.25em .25em;"><span>For more information see the chart of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S._House_of_Representatives_votes_on_the_Iraq_War" title="U.S. House of Representatives votes on the Iraq War">U.S. House of Representatives votes on the Iraq War</a>.</span></div>

<p>Hastings voted for the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Authorization_for_Use_of_Military_Force_Against_Iraq_Resolution_of_2002" title="Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002">Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002</a> that started the Iraq War.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doc_Hastings#cite_note-0">[1]</a></sup></p>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Environmental_record">Environmental record</span></h3>

<p><i>For more information on environmental legislation, see the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portal:Energy_and_Environment_Policy_%28U.S.%29" title="Portal:Energy and Environment Policy (U.S.)">Energy and Environment Policy Portal</a></i></p>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Abramoff_Contributions">Abramoff Contributions</span></h3>

<p><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 1997, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jack_Abramoff" title="Jack Abramoff">Jack Abramoff</a> gave $500 to the campaign of Republican Congressman Doc Hastings. The <i>New York Times</i> reported that Abramoff made an additional $500 donation to Hastings and that the Seattle law firm Abramoff worked for, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Preston_Gates_and_Ellis" title="Preston Gates and Ellis" class="mw-redirect">Preston Gates and Ellis</a>, donated $13,000 to Hastings' campaign and had a "close relationship for years" with the law firm.</span><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E16F7385C0C7B8CDDAF0894DD404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fA%2fAbramoff%2c%20Jack">[1]</a>

Preston Gates and Ellis, which had also hosted fundraisers for Hastings, issued a statement saying, "Preston Gates has the largest lobbying practice of any Pacific Northwest law firm. ... Members of the firm have hosted fundraisers for Rep. Hastings as we have for many other members of the Northwest Congressional delegation."<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002324501_hastings10m.html">[2]</a></p>

<h3><font color="#FF0000"><span class="mw-headline" id="Firing_of_U.S._attorneys">Firing of U.S. attorneys</span></font></h3>

<p>On March 6, 2007 during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, former U.S. Attorney John McKay stated that Ed Cassidy, then-chief of staff to Hastings, called him in 2004 to ask whether he was investigating allegations of <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">voter fraud</span> after a Democrat won the Washington state governor’s race in a third recount. At the time, McKay was serving as the chief federal law enforcement officer in Seattle. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senior-aide-implicated-2007-03-06.html">[3]</a>

McKay said he responded to Cassidy’s initial questions with "publicly available information and then tried to stop the line of questioning when pressed." McKay further explained that he thought Cassidy’s questions were related to internal U.S. attorney decisions about an investigation and were therefore improper under Justice Department ethics rules. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senior-aide-implicated-2007-03-06.html">[4]</a>

McKay said he stopped the conversation by asking Cassidy whether the aide was truly asking on behalf of his boss about an internal investigation or whether he was trying to lobby McKay to launch one, which would have been improper. Cassidy agreed that such questioning would be unethical and finished the conversation <font color="#FF0000">“in a most expeditious fashion</font>,” McKay said. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senior-aide-implicated-2007-03-06.html">[5]</a></p>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="House_ethics_package_confusion">House ethics package confusion</span></h3>

<p>In a letter sent to all Chairs and Ranking Members, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/House_Ethics_Committee" title="House Ethics Committee">Ethics Committee</a> Chair <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Stephanie_Tubbs_Jones" title="Stephanie Tubbs Jones">Stephanie Tubbs Jones</a> and Ranking Member Doc Hastings, asked their colleagues for guidance on a provision of the Democratic ethics package. The letter cites in particular a new provision requiring members to register their earmarks and certify that neither they nor their spouses have a “financial interest” in the provision. The letter said that the ethics panel is considering how to define the term “request” and noted that the Rules Committee of the last Congress chose to defer to the incoming committee chairmen on the matter.</p>

<p>Hastings was born February 7, 1941 in Spokane, Washington. He attended Columbia Basin College and Central Washington University and earned a degree in business.

He served in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Legislature" class="extiw" title="w:Washington State Legislature">Washington State House of Representatives</a> from 1979 to 1987, and was Assistant Majority Leader. Hastings was elected to the House in 1994 after being defeated in a 1992 bid.</p>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Congressional_career">Congressional career</span></h3>

<p>Hastings, usually a "behind the scenes" kind of legislator, has recently been thrust into the spotlight as the chairman of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/House_Committee_on_Standards_of_Official_Conduct" title="House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct" class="mw-redirect">House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct</a>, commonly known as the Ethics Committee. According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, "Hastings has become a<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> central figure in an intense political knife fight, a struggle being played out on a national scale involving Majority Leader <font color="#FF0000"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tom_DeLay" title="Tom DeLay" class="mw-redirect">Tom DeLay</a>, </font>the second-most-powerful Republican in Congress.</span>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/221498_doc25.html">[6]</a></p>

<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="2006_elections">2006 elections</span></h4>

<p>In 2006, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democratic_Party" title="Democratic Party" class="mw-redirect">Democrats</a> nominated <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Wright&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Richard Wright (page does not exist)">Richard Wright</a> to face Hastings in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S._congressional_elections_in_2006" title="U.S. congressional elections in 2006" class="mw-redirect">U.S. congressional elections in 2006</a>) <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://opensecrets.org/states/election.asp?State=WA&year=2006">[7]</a> Hastings retained his seat.</p>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Money_in_politics">Money in politics</span></h2>

<h2 class="ruleAbove">Career Fundraising</h2>

<table id="summaryData" class="datadisplay"><tbody><tr><td>1989 - 2014 Total Receipts:</td><td class="number"><img src="/c3f98f6c-742b-5d3f-bd94-d3ee1df339c8.gif"/> $8,531,179</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>1989 - 2014 Total Spent:</td><td class="number"><img src="/601a800d-730f-53bb-9cc5-de98aae1e432.gif"/> $8,016,613</td></tr><tr><td>Debts:</td><td class="number"><img src="/0508c5ec-6dc0-5f1c-a7b9-c095b1b0c30c.gif"/> $45,100</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Last Report:</td><td>Sunday, March 31, 2013</td></tr></tbody></table>

</div>

<h2>Top 5 Contributors, 1994 - 2014</h2>

</div>

<table id="topContrib" class="datadisplay"><thead><tr><th>Contributor</th><th>Total</th><th>Indivs</th><th>PACs</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="rowTint"><td>National Beer Wholesalers Assn</td><td class="number">$84,500</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$84,500</td></tr><tr><td>Weyerhaeuser Co</td><td class="number">$71,622</td><td class="number">$10,000</td><td class="number">$61,622</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Bechtel Group</td><td class="number">$59,650</td><td class="number">$5,250</td><td class="number">$54,400</td></tr><tr><td>National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn</td><td class="number">$57,665</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$57,665</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>National Assn of Realtors</td><td class="number">$57,400</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$57,400</td></tr></tbody></table>

</div>

<h2>Top 5 Industries, 1994 - 2014</h2>

</div>

<table id="topIndus" class="datadisplay"><thead><tr><th>Industry</th><th>Total</th><th>Indivs</th><th>PACs</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="rowTint"><td>Crop Production & Basic Processing</td><td class="number">$595,919</td><td class="number">$456,419</td><td class="number">$139,500</td></tr><tr><td><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Oil & Gas</span></td><td class="number"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">$346,803</span></td><td class="number"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">$93,033</span></td><td class="number"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">$253,770</span></td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Retired</td><td class="number">$300,843</td><td class="number">$300,843</td><td class="number">$0</td></tr><tr><td>General Contractors</td><td class="number">$231,825</td><td class="number">$82,500</td><td class="number">$149,325</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Insurance</td><td class="number">$204,194</td><td class="number">$73,244</td><td class="number">$130,950</td></tr></tbody></table>

</div>

<p>

 </p>

<table id="topContrib" class="tablesorter"><thead><tr><th class="header" style=" padding-right: 18px;">Contributor</th><th class="header" style=" padding-right: 18px;">Total</th><th class="header" style=" padding-right: 18px;">Indivs</th><th class="header" style=" padding-right: 18px;">PACs</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="rowTint"><td>National Beer Wholesalers Assn</td><td class="number">$84,500</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$84,500</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Weyerhaeuser Co </span></td><td class="number">$71,622</td><td class="number">$10,000</td><td class="number">$61,622</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Bechtel Group</td><td class="number">$59,650</td><td class="number">$5,250</td><td class="number">$54,400</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>National <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rural Electric </span>Cooperative Assn</td><td class="number">$57,665</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$57,665</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>National Assn of Realtors</td><td class="number">$57,400</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$57,400</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>Boeing Co</td><td class="number">$55,100</td><td class="number">$2,100</td><td class="number">$53,000</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>American Medical Assn</td><td class="number">$52,850</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$52,850</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>Microsoft Corp</td><td class="number">$51,500</td><td class="number">$500</td><td class="number">$51,000</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Fluor Corp</td><td class="number">$51,075</td><td class="number">$9,900</td><td class="number">$41,175</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>CH2M HILL</td><td class="number">$49,350</td><td class="number">$14,350</td><td class="number">$35,000</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Lockheed Martin</td><td class="number">$41,700</td><td class="number">$3,200</td><td class="number">$38,500</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>American Bankers Assn</td><td class="number">$41,500</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$41,500</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>General Dynamics</td><td class="number">$40,000</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$40,000</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">National Rifle Assn </span></td><td class="number">$39,350</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$39,350</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Edison Chouest Offshore </span></td><td class="number">$37,500</td><td class="number">$37,500</td><td class="number">$0</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>JR Simplot Co</td><td class="number">$36,500</td><td class="number">$500</td><td class="number">$36,000</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>National Auto Dealers Assn</td><td class="number">$36,000</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$36,000</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td><font color="#FF0000">Exxon Mobil </font></td><td class="number">$34,500</td><td class="number">$1,250</td><td class="number">$33,250</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Puget Sound Energy</td><td class="number">$33,786</td><td class="number">$2,850</td><td class="number">$30,936</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>Blue Cross/Blue Shield</td><td class="number">$33,500</td><td class="number">$4,500</td><td class="number">$29,000</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p>

 </p>

<table id="topIndus" class="datadisplay"><tbody><tr class="rowTint"><td>Crop Production & Basic Processing</td><td class="number">$595,919</td></tr><tr><td>Oil & Gas</td><td class="number">$346,803</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Retired</td><td class="number">$300,843</td></tr><tr><td>General Contractors</td><td class="number">$231,825</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Insurance</td><td class="number">$204,194</td></tr><tr><td>Health Professionals</td><td class="number">$202,259</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Forestry & Forest Products</td><td class="number">$198,988</td></tr><tr><td><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Electric Utilities</span></td><td class="number">$183,600</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Beer, Wine & Liquor</td><td class="number">$178,825</td></tr><tr><td>Lobbyists</td><td class="number">$173,145</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Mining</td><td class="number">$153,153</td></tr><tr><td>Construction Services</td><td class="number">$147,900</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Real Estate</td><td class="number">$130,729</td></tr><tr><td>Automotive</td><td class="number">$127,530</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Lawyers/Law Firms</td><td class="number">$122,945</td></tr><tr><td>Food Processing & Sales</td><td class="number">$106,725</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Defense Aerospace</td><td class="number">$97,950</td></tr><tr><td>Misc Manufacturing & Distributing</td><td class="number">$91,575</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Casinos/Gambling</td><td class="number">$88,100</td></tr><tr><td>Livestock</td><td class="number">$86,775</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h1 class="ruleAbove"><a id="sec" name="sec">Sector Totals</a></h1>

<table id="topSect" class="datadisplay"><tbody><tr class="rowTint"><th>Sector</th><th>Total</th><th>PACs</th><th>Indivs</th></tr><tr><td><font color="#FF0000">Agribusiness</font></td><td class="number"><font color="#FF0000">$1,193,202</font></td><td class="number"><font color="#FF0000">$566,112</font></td><td class="number"><font color="#FF0000">$627,090</font></td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Communications/Electronics</td><td class="number">$214,252</td><td class="number">$170,100</td><td class="number">$44,152</td></tr><tr><td>Construction</td><td class="number">$533,075</td><td class="number">$322,125</td><td class="number">$210,950</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Defense</td><td class="number">$185,200</td><td class="number">$156,700</td><td class="number">$28,500</td></tr><tr><td><font color="#FF0000">Energy & Natural Resources</font></td><td class="number"><font color="#FF0000">$879,436</font></td><td class="number"><font color="#FF0000">$612,570</font></td><td class="number"><font color="#FF0000">$266,866</font></td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Finance, Insurance & Real Estate</td><td class="number">$590,678</td><td class="number">$332,055</td><td class="number">$258,623</td></tr><tr><td>Health</td><td class="number">$269,518</td><td class="number">$151,500</td><td class="number">$118,018</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Lawyers & Lobbyists</td><td class="number">$296,090</td><td class="number">$80,520</td><td class="number">$215,570</td></tr><tr><td>Transportation</td><td class="number">$327,740</td><td class="number">$201,125</td><td class="number">$126,615</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Misc Business</td><td class="number">$575,800</td><td class="number">$314,126</td><td class="number">$261,674</td></tr><tr><td>Labor</td><td class="number">$20,500</td><td class="number">$20,250</td><td class="number">$250</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Ideological/Single-Issue</td><td class="number">$213,518</td><td class="number">$186,384</td><td class="number">$27,134</td></tr><tr><td>Other</td><td class="number">$324,350</td><td class="number">$0</td><td class="number">$324,350</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p>

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. <crpcontribdata>cid=N00009157&cycle=2006</crpcontribdata></p>

<table class="prettytable"><tbody><tr><th colspan="3">Links to more campaign contribution information for Doc Hastings

from the Center for Responsive Politics' <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org">OpenSecrets.org</a> site.</th></tr><tr><td>Fundraising profile:</td><td><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?cycle=2006&cid=N00009157">2006 election cycle</a></td><td><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/allsummary.asp?cid=N00009157">Career totals</a></td></tr><tr><td>Top contributors by organization/corporation:</td><td><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?cycle=2006&cid=N00009157">2006 election cycle</a></td><td><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/allcontrib.asp?cid=N00009157">Career totals</a></td></tr><tr><td>Top contributors by industry:</td><td><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?cycle=2006&cid=N00009157">2006 election cycle</a></td><td><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/allindus.asp?cid=N00009157">Career totals</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/search_result.asp?mem=Hastings%2C+Doc">Revolving door profile for Doc Hastings</a> from the Center for Responsive Politics' <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.OpenSecrets.org">OpenSecrets.org</a> website.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/travel.asp?CID=N00009157">2006 privately funded travel profile for Doc Hastings</a> from the Center for Responsive Politics' <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.OpenSecrets.org">OpenSecrets.org</a> website.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.php?CID=N00009157">Personal finance profile for Doc Hastings</a> from the Center for Responsive Politics' <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.OpenSecrets.org">OpenSecrets.org</a> website.</li>

</ul>

<p>

 </p>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Committees_and_Affiliations">Committees and Affiliations</span></h2>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Committees">Committees</span></h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/House_Committee_on_Standards_of_Official_Conduct" title="House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct" class="mw-redirect">House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct</a> - Ranking Member</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/House_Committee_on_Rules" title="House Committee on Rules">House Committee on Rules</a></li>

</ul>

<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Committee_assignments_in_the_109th_Congress_.282005-2006.29">Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)</span></h4>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/House_Committee_on_Rules" title="House Committee on Rules">House Committee on Rules</a>

<ul>

<li>Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House - Chairman</li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Coalitions_and_Caucuses">Coalitions and Caucuses</span></h3>

<ul>

<li>Founder, <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Congressional Nuclear Cleanup Caucus</span></li>

<li>Assistant Majority Whip</li>

<li>Western Representative, Republican Steering Committee</li>

</ul>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="More_Background_Data">More Background Data</span></h2>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=CNIP8326">Background information on Doc Hastings from Project Vote Smart</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=CNIP8326">Interest group scorecard ratings for Doc Hastings from Project Vote Smart</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/h000329">Voting record for Doc Hastings from the Washington Post database</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/cgi-bin/newmemberbio.cgi?lang=&member=WA04&site=congressmerge">Information on Doc Hastings from Congress Merge</a></li>

</ul>

<p><i><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> also has an article on <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings">Doc Hastings</a>. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFDL">GFDL</a>.</i></p>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Contact">Contact</span></h2>

<p><b>DC Office:</b>

1323 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515-4704

Phone: 202-225-5816

Fax: 202-225-3251

<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hastings.house.gov/Contactform.aspx">Web Email</a>

<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hastings.house.gov/">Website</a>

<b>District Office - Pasco:</b>

2715 Saint Andrews Loop, Suite D

Pasco, WA 99301

Phone: 509-543-9396

Fax: 509-545-1972

<b>District Office - Yakima:</b>

302 East Chestnut Street

Yakima, WA 98901

Phone: 509-452-3243

Fax: 509-452-3438

 </p>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="2008_Campaign_Contact_Information">2008 Campaign Contact Information</span></h3>

<p><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://dochastings.com/">Officials Hastings for Congress campaign website</a>

Friends of Doc Hastings

P.O. Box 2926

Pasco, Washington 99302

Phone: 509-736-1510

<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="mailto:info@dochastings.com">info@dochastings.com</a></p>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Articles_and_resources">Articles and resources</span></h2>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Resources">Resources</span></h3>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.house.gov/hastings/">Official website</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://dochastings.com/">Campaign website</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.technorati.com/search/%22doc%20hastings%22">Technorati Search: Doc Hastings</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=%22doc+hastings%22&btnG=Search+News">Google News Search: Doc Hastings</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22doc+hastings%22&x=wrt">Yahoo! News Search: Doc Hastings</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/congtravel/member_report.php?member=7108">Power Trips: How much did Doc Hastings travel?</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://opensecrets.org/races/index.asp">Open Secrets</a> - 2006 congressional races database</li>

</ul>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Local_blogs_and_discussion_sites">Local blogs and discussion sites</span></h3>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Articles">Articles</span></h3>

<ul>

<li>Larry Margasak, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/02/16/national/w123548S50.DTL">"House Ethics Panel Chair Fires Two Lawyers,"</a> <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i>, February 16, 2005.</li>

<li>Charles Pope, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/221498_doc25.html">"Hastings Thrust into Uncomfortable Spotlight in Ethics Dispute,"</a> <i>Seattle Post-Intelligencer</i>, April 25, 2005.</li>

<li>Michael Hedges and Samantha Levine, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=11449">"Hastings Connected to Abramoff Law Firm,"</a> <i>Houston Chronicle</i>, June 9, 2005.</li>

<li>Alicia Mundy, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002347954_hastings25m.html">"Ethics Claims Target Hastings,"</a> <i>Seattle Times</i>, June 25, 2005.</li>

<li>Les Blumenthal, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5461583p-4928548c.html">"Critics Call House Ethics Panel a Failure,"</a> <i>The News Tribune</i>, January 16, 2006.</li>

<li>Susan Crabtree, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senior-aide-implicated-2007-03-06.html">"Senior aide implicated"</a> <i>The Hill</i>, March 7, 2007.</li>

<li>Jackie Kucinich <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/more-house-ethics-confusion-reigns-this-time-on-earmarks-2007-03-19.html">“More House ethics confusion reigns, this time on earmarks”</a> The Hill, March 19, 2007.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/30138">"CREW releases 'Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch)',"</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_Responsibility_and_Ethics_in_Washington" title="Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington</a>, September 18, 2007.</li>

</ul>

<p><b>Corresponding article on <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings">Wikipedia</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.causecaller.com/wiki/Doc_Hastings">Cause Caller</a>. (If Cause Caller link does not work, pick from its list of <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.causecaller.com/wiki/Senator">senators</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.causecaller.com/wiki/Representative">representatives</a>.)</b>

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The House approved a bill Friday morning that would significantly deregulate the coal industry, in a vote that was the last legislative act of the House before the November election.

The Stop the War on Coal Act, H.R. 3409, was approved in a 233-175 vote, although as usual, the bill many Democrats described as anti-environmental still found some Democratic support — 19 Democrats voted for it.

The legislation is a combination of five bills that would overturn or prevent an array of regulations that Republicans say would harm the coal industry and the economy. Among other things, it would block the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other sources, and prevent rules on the storage and disposal of coal ash and limit Clean Water Act rules.

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<p>It would also prevent potential Interior Department rules to toughen environmental controls on mountaintop removal coal mining, and thwart other air emissions rules, including air toxics standards for coal-fired power plants.

Republicans say the bill is needed because power companies plan to close some coal-fired plants due to the EPA's air emissions rules, and because of additional EPA and Interior Department rules affecting coal mining. The GOP says that taken together, the Obama administration's regulations on the industry amount to a "war on coal."

The White House has threatened to veto the bill, arguing it would gut vital protections and presents a false choice between economic growth and public health safeguards. But the veto threat will not be an issue, as the Senate will not consider the bill before it leaves for the election.

Still, it provided Republicans an election-season messaging platform to argue that President Obama's environmental policies are bad for the economy.

During debate this week, Republicans reminded their colleagues that when Obama was running for office in 2008, he warned that he would seek to bankrupt the coal industry.

"It was the President, when he was a candidate, that said that his policies, if enacted, would cost coal jobs," Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said Thursday. "For nearly four years, we have seen evidence of that."

Hastings and other Republicans cited Obama's comments in 2008, when he said that people wanting to build a coal-fired power plant would still be able to do so under his administration, although doing this would "bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

As evidence that the "war on coal" is being waged, Republicans cited this week's announcement from mining giant Alpha Natural Resources that it would cut 1,200 jobs and idle eight mines in three states.

Democratic opponents of the bill argued that the coal industry is not being hurt by regulation, but instead by competition from other energy sources, notably low-cost and abundant natural-gas supplies.

"When the Republicans say there is a war on coal, in a market sense, yes, there is a war," Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said. "In the same sense that when we started carrying BlackBerrys, it was a war on the black rotary-dial phone; in the same sense that when we started using Macs and PCs, it was a war on typewriters; in the same sense that the horseless carriage was a war on horses; in the same sense that refrigerators were a war on salted meats; in the same sense that the telegraph was a war on carrier pigeons."

Before the final vote, the House approved two amendments that would require the government to publish the scientific data it uses as a basis for writing regulations. Another Republican amendment that was accepted would require the secretary of Transportation to estimate the number of jobs lost due to auto emission standards.

The House rejected several Democratic amendments, including one from Energy and Commerce ranking member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) that would have struck language repealing the EPA's 2009 scientific finding that carbon pollution endangers public health. That finding provides the legal underpinning for EPA climate change regulations.

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The lower chamber will return after the election for a lame-duck session.

===

greenpeace</p>

<p>

Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA), District 4

“When it comes to clean energy and meeting the goals of an all-of-the-above energy plan,

Central Washington should be held up as an example....”

Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources5

In top 25% of House members receiving campaign cash from fossil fuel companies7

Coal Plants Polluting Hasting’s District23

Centralia Power Plant (owned, TransAlta Centralia Generation LLC

[subsidiary of TransAlta)] within 100 miles of District 4.

• No mercury controls.

Impact Annually of This Coal Plant6

• Deaths: 5

• Heart Attacks: 8

• Asthma Attacks: 97

• Hospital Admissions: 3

• Chronic Bronchitis: 4

• Asthma ER Visits: 2

Yearly Costs: $41,757,0006

Coal Polluters Support Representative Hastings

Fossil fuel industry has given Hastings $206,519 since the 1998 election season. Coal donors include National Rural Electric

Cooperative Association ($43,915), American Electric Power ($10,000), and Xcel Energy ($4,750).7

Hastings Represents Coal Polluters

Hastings voted to stop EPA from reducing mercury and other toxic air pollution from cement plants.12

He is expected to support Coal Caucus members who are threatening with a bill to strip EPA’s budget to reduce mercury

pollution from coal-fired power plants.14

Hastings voted yes to keep EPA from making coal companies reduce global warming pollution.2

Hastings voted yes to an amendment in the budget bill that would stop EPA from developing protections from coal ash pollution.

Hastings voted three times in support of coal-industry amendments on mountaintop removal mining.15

Jobs to Produce Power in Washington

Wind and Solar:</p>

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WASHINGTON -- The chief sponsors of a bill to expand oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and open the coastal waters of Virginia for exploration have received more than $8.8 million combined in campaign donations from the oil and gas industry, a review of campaign finance records shows.</p>

<p>

On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act by a 266 to 149 margin. The measure would force the federal government to conduct three lease auctions in those areas by June 2012. It is considered the first step in a GOP-led process to loosen restrictions on offshore drilling. Authored by House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), it faces a much closer vote in the Senate as well as the stated opposition of the Obama administration.</p>

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Nevertheless, the bill's passage in the people’s chamber underscores the extent to which the political world has moved beyond the concerns over domestic drilling that arose in the wake of last year’s historic oil spill in the Gulf. It also serves as another reminder that, in the halls of Congress, certain legislative power comes with financial prowess.</p>

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A review of data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics shows that the 67 co-sponsors of the act received a combined total of at least $8,887,000 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry during the course of their careers. For at least ten of those members, the oil and has industry was their biggest career contributor.

The same dynamics held true for the twenty members of the freshmen House Republicans who co-sponsored the bill. Of those, five counted the oil and gas industry as their largest contributor during the 2010 campaign.

Contacted by The Huffington Post for comment, each of these congressional offices offered differing versions of the same explanation for their vote.</p>

<p>

Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), who has received more than $92,000 from the oil and gas industry during the course of his 3-year congressional career, noted that his district encompasses the birthplace of domestic oil production.</p>

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Hastings, Doc Rep

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