Green Delaware: Carper’s Environmental Record Has Always Sucked
Alan Muller of environmental watchdog Green Delaware read Tom Carper’s claim last week that Delaware’s environmental problems come from upwind coal-burning power plants and smelled revisionist history. So he penned this handy recap of Carper’s record, which boils down to the same policy Delaware’s Democrats have always had towards the environment — fuck it, let’s get some dirty jobs.
One of my co-bloggers wondered last week why Muller always supported Mike Castle. Simple — Castle, like Republicans Bill Roth and Russell Peterson before him, was more environmentally conscious that any Democrat who’s held any statewide or federal office in the past 40 years.
I wonder just how many members Green Delaware has.
Does it matter?
Let us not forget Tom Carper’s flip on the Keystone Pipeline, and his public explanation as to WHY he flipped (‘Now we can get on to more important issues’):
http://delawareliberal.net//2016/11/29/how-tom-carpers-votes-and-positions-screw-people-and-help-rethugs-to-screw-people-volume-1/
Since he’s holding himself out as executive director of a statewide organization, then yes, it matters as part of his credibility.
I haven’t seen any evidence that Green Delaware exists beyond his website, Facebook page and email list, and any fool can set those up.
Actually, his credibility rests on his 30-year record of holding polluters accountable.
Any fool can also post anonymously to a web site. I find you credible because what you say is usually sensible and usually checks out. I find it odd that you don’t use that standard yourself.
The News Journal under John Taylor as editorial page editor spent most of that time trying to undercut him the same way you are. I would hope you’re better than that.
If you have a problem with what he said about Carper, voice it. If what he says checks out, then you’re just being a dick.
As noted Bill Roth and Mike Castle had a much better record than any Dem I can think of, Bill Roth in particular was a staunch environmentalist. Also as noted the Dems succumb to the siren song of “jobs”, jobs that never arrive in either the quality or quantity that is claimed. I see it as part of the “Republican Lite” mentality of the corporatists.
@bamboozer: Bingo!
Castle had the best environmental secretary ever–Toby Clark. Carper brought in a guy whose wife was a lobbyist for the oil industry-Christophe Tolou. Tolou talked constantly about ‘win-win situations’, meaning selling out to the corporate polluters every chance he got.
Forget about the messenger. Carper’s environmental record is terrible. ‘Win-win’ means industry wins, and Carper’s campaign coffers experience a windfall.
No, I’m not going to forget about the messenger. I constantly heard that bullshit from John Taylor, whose wife just happened to work for DNREC.
What SW tried to pull is the cheapest, sleaziest kind of ad hominem argument, and false logic is never OK by me. If the argument was that he’s conflicted by his employment, that’s a reasonable cause to question credibility. The argument that he doesn’t lead a big organization is not.
Alan Muller is a prickly guy, hard for many people to get along with, and has hurt himself over the years by making many of his criticisms personal. So what? The worth of his arguments cannot be judged by the size of his organization.
I agree with that. My point is that the criticism is well-placed regardless of the messenger. And trying to tie the messenger to the validity of the message only serves to muddy the message, which is that Carper is in no way an environmentalist, and needs to be challenged on his record.
@El Som: I guess I’m just surprised to hear that argument from one of our most astute commenters. I value SW’s contributions highly, especially his fact-checking, so I can’t imagine where that came from.
Green Delaware fields the worst candidates i have ever seen. Some barely seem literate. I’m not saying Carper is perfect, but the candidates Green Delaware has put forward frequently are massive jokes.
Yeah.. You are confusing the political party (Green Party of Delaware) with the environmental advocacy group (Green Delaware).
I remember Muller coming down here to the Swamps of Sussex decades ago speaking on development/environmental issues before anyone down here knew it was an issue.
The narrative from Delaware polluters and their cheerleading squad was always that Alan Muller was a flake and everyone should ignore him.
I have personal experience with Muller’s environmental activities. I have watched him shred DNREC at public hearings, and particularly at a water permitting hearing for the Indian River Power Plant. The things he got DNREC to admit to doing, and not doing, made people in the audience literally gasp.
I take his comments seriously. Don’t fall for the bullshit his opposition tries to sell you – like he didn’t cut the grass at his house and was cited by NCC – which by his opponent’s logic makes his opinion null and void.
You’re right about that. And, while Alan has sometimes been his own worst enemy (same thing was true for Floyd McDowell), his critiques have been on point. Which is why so many anti-environmentalists have gone after the messenger, not the message.