The Quixotic Maria Cantwell
By James Lynne Moore, Jr.. Wednesday, 21. December 2005, 21:29:00
This just arrived in my Inbox from Moveon.org dated 12/21/05:
"Thank Senator Cantwell for Leadership in Protecting the Arctic Refuge
Led by Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Senate has voted down desperate efforts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling proponents had shamefully attached Arctic drilling to a critical bill that provides our troops with the resources they need to keep us safe. Supporters of Arctic drilling won't give up and they'll push for drilling again, perhaps even this week, but Cantwell, along with other key senators, won a huge victory for the environment. Thank her for standing up and fighting efforts to drill in the pristine Arctic wilderness by signing our thank-you petition."
Who would have guessed back when the RealNetworks executive first ran for the Senate from Washington that it would turn out that she would be conservationists, environmentalists and wilderness supporters' 'last great hope" to fend off Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska's determined quest to despoil one of the planet's final frontiers?
I like Maria Cantwell and I have faithfully voted for her, but I would never have guessed at her tenacity, grit and determination. Especially her combativeness when confronting the angry, little man from the 50th state.
It was Maria Cantwell, after all, who asked during Senate hearings to have oil company executives take an oath before their testimony as is customary (presumably) of everyone asked to testify before a Senate committee. It was the irascible Ted Stevens, chairman of the committee, who publicly shut her down and spanked her verbally by allowing the smarmy oil execs to waive the oath.
Do you think Ted was trying to protect somebody's derriere? If you guessed the body politic, you and me, you would be wrong.
The cantankerous Stevens seems to be amending bills left and right with his lustful desire to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I read that he was whining today about a promise made to him in 1980 by 'Scoop' Jackson, Washington's moderate, senior Senator at the time, that if Ted voted to expand wilderness areas elsewhere SOMEDAY, Jackson would return the favor by voting in favor of raping wilderness areas in Stevens' wilderness-rich and oil-abundant Alaska.
Unfortunately for Ted, Jackson passed on, and the world has passed Stevens by. Boo-hoo-hoo, I say.
Ted Stevens has also been working hard to overturn the Magnuson Amendment, which bans supertankers from Puget Sound. It is a sound amendment --- no pun intended --- because of the delicate environmental balance in the Puget Sound region and because of the extreme difficulty of maneuvering those behemoths in tight quarters. Maria Cantwell has been fighting tooth and nail to preserve this amendment named for another one of Washington's revered former Senators --- Warren G. Magnuson.
I have said it before and I will repeat it here --- I'd like to know if Alaskans would be as eager to drill in their wildlife-rich habitats IF the oil proceeds were spread equitably across the United States to ALL citizens who, technically, are the stewards of that public land. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is federal property, bought and paid for by the American people, and thus, the monies from oil that has historically been flowing into the Alaskan general fund, for the benefit of Alaskans alone, should be redirected into the Federal treasury, or into all of our bank accounts.
My guess is that the Alaskan contingent of representatives would not be as insufferable in their desire to harvest their resources.
I am skeptical that Cantwell can fend Stevens off forever. The pessimist in me sees her tilting at windmills. Even so, if you agree with what she is doing, send her a note of thanks.
I imagine her quixotic quest is, more often than not, a thankless one as well.
"Thank Senator Cantwell for Leadership in Protecting the Arctic Refuge
Led by Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Senate has voted down desperate efforts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling proponents had shamefully attached Arctic drilling to a critical bill that provides our troops with the resources they need to keep us safe. Supporters of Arctic drilling won't give up and they'll push for drilling again, perhaps even this week, but Cantwell, along with other key senators, won a huge victory for the environment. Thank her for standing up and fighting efforts to drill in the pristine Arctic wilderness by signing our thank-you petition."
Who would have guessed back when the RealNetworks executive first ran for the Senate from Washington that it would turn out that she would be conservationists, environmentalists and wilderness supporters' 'last great hope" to fend off Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska's determined quest to despoil one of the planet's final frontiers?
I like Maria Cantwell and I have faithfully voted for her, but I would never have guessed at her tenacity, grit and determination. Especially her combativeness when confronting the angry, little man from the 50th state.
It was Maria Cantwell, after all, who asked during Senate hearings to have oil company executives take an oath before their testimony as is customary (presumably) of everyone asked to testify before a Senate committee. It was the irascible Ted Stevens, chairman of the committee, who publicly shut her down and spanked her verbally by allowing the smarmy oil execs to waive the oath.
Do you think Ted was trying to protect somebody's derriere? If you guessed the body politic, you and me, you would be wrong.
The cantankerous Stevens seems to be amending bills left and right with his lustful desire to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I read that he was whining today about a promise made to him in 1980 by 'Scoop' Jackson, Washington's moderate, senior Senator at the time, that if Ted voted to expand wilderness areas elsewhere SOMEDAY, Jackson would return the favor by voting in favor of raping wilderness areas in Stevens' wilderness-rich and oil-abundant Alaska.
Unfortunately for Ted, Jackson passed on, and the world has passed Stevens by. Boo-hoo-hoo, I say.
Ted Stevens has also been working hard to overturn the Magnuson Amendment, which bans supertankers from Puget Sound. It is a sound amendment --- no pun intended --- because of the delicate environmental balance in the Puget Sound region and because of the extreme difficulty of maneuvering those behemoths in tight quarters. Maria Cantwell has been fighting tooth and nail to preserve this amendment named for another one of Washington's revered former Senators --- Warren G. Magnuson.
I have said it before and I will repeat it here --- I'd like to know if Alaskans would be as eager to drill in their wildlife-rich habitats IF the oil proceeds were spread equitably across the United States to ALL citizens who, technically, are the stewards of that public land. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is federal property, bought and paid for by the American people, and thus, the monies from oil that has historically been flowing into the Alaskan general fund, for the benefit of Alaskans alone, should be redirected into the Federal treasury, or into all of our bank accounts.
My guess is that the Alaskan contingent of representatives would not be as insufferable in their desire to harvest their resources.
I am skeptical that Cantwell can fend Stevens off forever. The pessimist in me sees her tilting at windmills. Even so, if you agree with what she is doing, send her a note of thanks.
I imagine her quixotic quest is, more often than not, a thankless one as well.
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