So it's been over a week since Texas oil refiners (and two of California's worst polluters) Valero and Tesoro ponied up close to $2 million to launch a petition drive to get an initiative on the November ballot to kill AB 32, California's nation-leading legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels and encourage job creation in the booming green/clean energy and tech industries. Naturally, Valero, Tesoro and assemblyman Dan Logue (R-Chino), one of the initiative's primary sponsors, are doing their best to keep Texas Big Oil's involvement in the petition a secret, refusing to confirm or deny that Valero/Tesoro are actually the sole funders of the signature drive and stand to profit from insuring that Californians continue to breath some of the dirtiest, most unhealthy air in the nation.
Unfortunately for them, the secret is out. Supporters of AB 32, the environment and clean energy started a website, NoOnValero.com, to let Californians know that the effort to kill AB 32 is about Big Oil profits, not saving or creating jobs. They also staged a rally in front of a Sacramento Valero station to tell Valero to mind its own business. Below is news coverage of the event, and you can also visit the No On Valero Youtube channel to hear what the protesters think of Valero's involvement in trying to kill AB 32.
Not to be outdone, the Teabaggers, America's favorite racists and climate change/evolution deniers, decided to stage their own pro-Valero rally the next week. That's right, a rally to celebrate the fact that an out-of-state Big Oil company -- a member of one of America's most hated industries after banks and health insurers -- is attempting to further corrupt our political system and compromise the health of Californians. Because apparently Teabaggers, who claim to value what they call "freedom", think it's better if unelected Texas CEOs of heavy-polluting corporations write California's anti-pollution laws. Also, someone may want to tell the Teabaggers that Valero's involvement in the petition is supposed to be, you know, a secret. And I'll be curious to hear what Valero thinks of getting the support of a group known mostly for racism, unhinged anger, willful ignorance and irrational, apocalyptic conspiracy theories.
It is time for an addition to the Roster of Shame, i.e., your neighbors in the Coachella Valley who provide financial support to the reactionary GOP candidates. As you probably know already, the Palm Springs/Coachella Valley area is a must-see destination for Presidential campaigns. We know this from the visit from the so-called President when he skulked into Indian Wells in 2006 to raise money on behalf of other Repugnants in the Coachella Valley as well as for his own trough. What you probably don't know, that, at least in Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, and Palm Desert, Fred Thompson has raised $0.00 to date. (It seems that he is as lazy at the money trough as he is on the campaign trail.) So much for the Thompson factor in the Coachella Valley thus far.
What follows is the money trail as reported by the HuffingtonPost.com FundRace 2008, as of October 15, 2007. See below the flip to understand who your neighbors support, and, indirectly, what they probably think of you, your politics, and your beloved country.
As you probably know already, the Palm Springs/Coachella Valley area is a must-see destination for Presidential campaigns. We know this from the visit from the so-called President when he skulked into Indian Wells in 2006 to raise money on behalf of other Repugnants in the Coachella Valley as well as for his own trough. What you probably don't know, that, at least in Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Palm Desert, Fred Thompson and Ron Paul have raised $0.00 total to date. So much for the Thompson factor in the Coachella Valley thus far.
What follows is the money trail as reported by the HuffingtonPost.com FundRace 2008. See below the flip to understand who your Repugnant neighbors support, and, indirectly, what they probably think of you, your politics, and your beloved country.
[Orange] County Supervisor Janet Nguyen is 50 days late so far in complying with a county oridinace [sic] on campaign donations. Some time after the Feb. 6 election, she accepted three contributions in excess of the county's $1,500 limit and put them into a legal trust fund set up by her lawyer. Turns out county code prohibits such trust funds, so the money was moved out of there and the excess donations, they say, were returned.
H/T to Mike Lawson at