The Obama campaign recently hired Broderick Johnson, a former lobbyist for the Keystone XL pipeline, as a new senior advisor to the president’s 2012 re-election campaign. Records show that Broderick Johnson lobbied Congress on the Keystone XL pipeline while working for Bryan Cave LLP, a top lobby firm in Washington, DC. During the fourth quarter of 2010, the firm spent $120,000 working on the issue. Bryan Cave LLP reported earnings of $1.08 million between 2009-2011 lobbying on behalf of pipeline company TransCanada, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
“The news about Mr. Johnson comes on top of the revelations that Hillary Clinton’s former deputy campaign manager became the lead lobbyist for the pipeline firm TransCanada, and that the State Department literally let TransCanada pick the company that would conduct the environmental review of its project,” said Bill McKibben, of TarSandsAction.org and 350.org, which have been spearheading protests against the pipeline.
“It stinks. I don’t think you could conceive a more elaborate way to disrespect not just the environmental community but also Occupy Wall Street, because this is simply a reminder of the way that corporate lobbyists dominate our politics. Forget ‘Hope and Change’ – it’s like they want their new slogan to be ‘Business as Usual.’”
Bill McKibben couldn’t have put it better. To say the least, I am outraged and extremely disappointed. It’s like a slap in the face. A few months ago I wrote about going to DC and getting arrested with 1252 others in a two-week-long peaceful protest against the Keystone XL Pipeline. Please read more about the pipeline here. I sincerely hope that this was not a personal choice of Obama’s and that he will fix this soon.
What do you think about the hiring of Broderick Johnson? Leave a comment! 😀
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Very disappointed. Looks like the energy guys are now entrenched in both parties and we can expect more sloppy, leaky oil pipelines, and more wasteful and energy intensive mining of dirty tar sands oil. Doesn’t clean air and water matter anymore? Don’t indigenous people have rights? What about all the harm to wildlife? Oh, yes, the Koch brothers say not to worry, they will do what is best to cut taxes for themselves and make a few more billion from these kind of projects worldwide. Then they’ll save us all from ourselves by hiring us at minimum wage and selling to us from the company store.
I’m very concerned about this relationship…President Obama needs to stop this Pipeline and quit playing the DC money game. I refuse to be manipulated and have my vote taken for granted. He is going to lose the young people in this election if he allows this pipeline to go through. I believe the president is a very calculating guy…what is the calculation if he loses the youth vote? If he allows the pipeline then he will have made the calculation that he can win without the youth and without environmental vote. I want to believe he is much wiser and much more principled than that.
All I can say to Obama is, WTF. on hiring a Keystone lobbiest. What a major let down. I will hold my nose and vote for him with no alternative. But I will definitely be speaking to him about this.