Rep. John Mica 'two-faced' in the aftermath of oil spill
By Ron Littlepage on May 20, 2010 - 10:49pm Ron Littlepage's Blog
The disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has provided a new poster child for being two-faced.
Hands down, it's John Mica, the Republican congressman who, unfortunately, represents some of this area.
Mica is a big supporter of the tea partiers. In a speech on the House floor last year, he declared it was his "honor to present their grievances and declaration."
Included in those grievances, of course, are loud harangues that the federal government is out of control, sticking its nose in too many places, including private enterprise.
Now flash forward to earlier this week. Mica, taking part in a congressional hearing on the oil spill, had this to say:
"In the month of April, the nation lost 29 miners and 11 oil rig workers in two avoidable disasters. Federal agencies failed and federal actions failed to prevent these disasters."
He went on to call the Gulf accident the "Obama oil spill."
In other words, it wasn't the private companies - BP, Deepwater Horizon and the mining company - that screwed up.
The fault lies with the big, bad federal government for not being big and bad enough.
The two faces of Mica might have something to do with the cash in his campaign accounts that came from Big Oil.
I don't agree with the tea partiers on much, except that some incumbent politicians need to be voted out of office.
A good place to start would be with their champion, John Mica.
Maybe some good will come out of this oil spill.
Gov. Charlie Crist has suggested a special legislative session to consider putting a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would ban drilling in Florida's waters.
That would be a good first step, but as this spill shows, it wouldn't necessarily protect Florida's beaches and environment.
What needs to happen is to replace talk with serious, concerted action to develop alternative forms of energy.
Florida should be a leader in that because Florida has much to lose when oil drilling goes wrong, and it always will at some point.
Moving forward will take real leadership, which Crist and the Legislature have yet to provide.
Putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot is easy. The hard work is lessening the need for oil.
The effort will cost money, but so do disasters such as the Gulf oil spill.
Let's end with a note of levity amid otherwise dreary news.
The Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Palatka, which has been fouling Rice Creek and the St. Johns River for decades, is sponsoring "The Greater St. Johns River Photo Contest."
According to the company's website, it is seeking photos "that capture the essence of the river - wildlife, recreation, landscapes - pictures that are creative, unique and original."
The winning shots will be reproduced in a calendar. The grand prize winner gets a free trip to Disney World in Orlando.
Neil Armingeon, the St. Johns Riverkeeper, is considering submitting photos taken last weekend of a massive, ugly algal bloom in Rice Creek, where Georgia-Pacific dumps its effluent.
ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4284
1 comment:
Thanks for making us aware of this. I found it through the link at www.flaglerlive.com
While explaining all this, perhaps you could explain why we all keep sending people like John Mica back to Congress!
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