joe barton's record

[from wikipedia, including their footnotes]

Following college Barton entered private industry until 1981 when he became a White House Fellow and served under Secretary of Energy James B. Edwards. Later, he began consulting for Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Co. before being elected to Congress in 1984.[3]

Congressman Barton has taken $1.4 million in campaign contributions from the Oil industry since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Congressman is the Ranking Minority Member on the Energy & Commerce Committee and during the June 17, 2010 hearings on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, apologized to BP for what he termed the the $20 billion "shakedown" of BP by the White House.[4]

Rep. Barton has been regarded as a global warming skeptic[5] and his opposition to addressing global warming has been consistent and long-term[citation needed]. Barton is considered an oil industry apologist[citation needed], most notably by rebuffing the White House for asking for a cleanup fund from BP in response to the Gulf Oil Spill disaster[citation needed].

As a chairman with primary responsibility over the energy sector, Barton has consistently acted over the years to prevent congressional action on global warming.[9] In 2001, Barton declared, "as long as I am chairman, [regulating global warming pollution] is off the table indefinitely. I don't want there to be any uncertainty about that."[10] Barton led opposition to amendments that would have recognized global warming during consideration of the Energy Advancement and Conservation Act in 2001, opposing an amendment to require the President to develop and implement a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels as called for by the non-binding United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to which the U.S. is a party.[dead link][11] In 2003, Barton again opposed amendments that would have recognized global warming during consideration of the National Energy Policy Act of 2003, opposing a nonbinding amendment that would have put Congress on record as saying that the U.S. should "demonstrate international leadership and responsibility in reducing the health, environmental, and economic risks posed by climate change."[dead link][12] In July 2003, Barton offered an amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act to remove language that both recognized global warming and called on President Bush to reengage with the international community to find solutions.[dead link][13] In addition, Barton has consistently opposed proposals to reduce the nation's dependence on oil.[14][15][16]

In 2005, prompted by a February 2005 Wall Street Journal article,[17] Rep. Barton has launched an investigation into two climate change studies from 1998 and 1999.[5] In his letters to the authors of the studies, he requested not just details on the studies themselves but significant information about their entire lives and previous studies. This has been widely regarded as an attempted attack on the scientists rather than a serious attempt to understand the science,[18] although some view it as a normal exercise of the committee's responsibility and an effort to make possible scientific debate on a subject within its jurisdiction.[19][20] The Washington Post condemned Barton's investigation as a "witch-hunt".[21] Environmental Science & Technology, an obscure policy journal often cited by politicians, including Barton, reported what it said was scientific proof that global warming science is wrong.[22] See also Barton's own response to this controversy in The Dallas Morning News.[23] The dispute expanded with Sherwood Boehlert's House Science Committee taking a strong interest.[24]

In 2006, Barton earned two "environmental harm demerits" from the conservative watchdog group Republicans for Environmental Protection, the first "for derailing floor passage of a sense of the House resolution ... acknowledging climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions"; the second, "for holding hearings, in his role as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, designed to intimidate climate scientists and raise doubt about the impacts and causes of climate change."[25] The hearings were held by Barton's committee on July 19, 2006, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations; there, several skeptics testified regarding the hockey stick graph.

During Former Vice President Al Gore's testimony to the Energy and Commerce Committee in March, 2007, Barton asserted to Gore that "You're not just off a little, you're totally wrong."[26]

Barton used his committee chairmanship to block the Combating Autism Act of 2006, despite overwhelming bipartisan support. Barton claimed the money steered toward environmental causes of autism were not the reason he blocked passage of the bill,[27] However, he voted for passage of the bill once the environmental language was removed[citation needed].

On June 17, 2010, Barton accused the White House of a "$20 billion shakedown" of oil giant BP by requiring the company to establish a huge escrow account to pay the claims of people harmed by the Gulf Coast oil spill[28]. He made the assertion at the outset of a House hearing where BP's chief executive officer, Tony Hayward, appeared for the first time before Congress. Facing Hayward at the witness table, the Texas Republican congressman said, "I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House" on Wednesday.[29]. Barton was referring to the agreement that President Barack Obama announced with BP for establishment of a $20 billion relief fund.[30]. In response, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs criticized Barton’s remarks and asked other members of Congress to do likewise. "What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction," said Gibbs.[31]


3. ^ http://joebarton.house.gov/back.aspx?Page=Biography
4. ^ a b ("Citizens for Ethics full and final report". Citizens for Ethics. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1996.html. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
5. ^ a b c (Roland Pease (2005-07-18). "Politics plays climate 'hockey'". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4693855.stm. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
6. ^ a b c ("Report says Barton's campaign paid wife". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. http://www.star-telegram.com/national_news/story/141802.html. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
7. ^ [1][dead link]
8. ^ http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:Caya6UkgOrkJ:www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7574562/+MTBE&hl=en
9. ^ Mufson, Steven; Eilperin, Juliet (2008-06-06). "Senate Democrats May Pull Climate Bill". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/05/AR2008060503603.html?wpisrc=newsletter. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
10. ^ http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPaddress=162.140.64.21&filename=71503.wais&directory=/diskc/wais/data/107_house_hearings
11. ^ [2][dead link]
12. ^ [3][dead link]
13. ^ [4][dead link]
14. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2001&rollnumber=311
15. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll132.xml
16. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll121.xml
17. ^ In Climate Debate, The 'Hockey Stick' Leads to a Face-Off - WSJ.com
18. ^ (Alan Leshner. "letter to Joe Barton". American Academy for the Advancement of Science. http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2005/0714letter.pdf. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
19. ^ (Editorial. "Bruiser Barton". The Hill. http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/Editorial/072005.html. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
20. ^ (Steven Milloy. "Tree Ring Circus". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163999,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
21. ^ (Editorial (2005-07-23). "Hunting Witches". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072201658.html. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
22. ^ (Paul D. Thacker. "Skeptics get a journal". Environmental Science & Technology. http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2005/aug/policy/pt_skeptics.html. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
23. ^ [5][dead link]
24. ^ Web site for the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives :: Welcome
25. ^ Republicans for Environmental Protection 2006 Scorecard
26. ^ Gore Implores Congress to Save Planet
27. ^ *Plunkett, John. "Activists Putting Heat on Barton" Dallas Morning News, October 2006.
28. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvKZh3EY9S4&feature=player_embedded
29. ^ CBS News, Rep Joe Barton apologizes to BPs Tony Hayward, June 17 2010, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20008020-503544.html
30. ^ CBS News, Rep Joe Barton apologizes to BPs Tony Hayward, June 17 2010, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20008020-503544.html
31. ^ Reuters, Apology to BPs Hayward triggers uproar, June 17 2010, Steve Holland, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1721590120100617

in other words, he's a 1st-class brown-noser for big oil!