We noted earlier this week how GOP Rep. John Shimkus was the most aggressive of the Illinois opponents of the comprehensive energy bill passed by the U.S. House Tuesday night -- going so far as to vote twice to adjourn the chamber before a vote could be held.
Well, it turns out that his pro-coal rant on the House floor wasn't just ridiculous (case in point: "Speaker Pelosi hates coal. Hates it!"), it was also false. Shimkus said during his floor statement, "There's nothing in the Democrat [sic] bill that advances coal use. Nothing. Zero. No oil shale. No coal. No oil sands. Nothing." But as Alison of PhilosopheForum noted in our comments section, the bill did in fact advance coal use. From Speaker Nancy Pelosi's summary:
Carbon Capture & Sequestration. Advances the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to come up with a cleaner way to use coal.
Here again is video of Shimkus' performance on the floor:
Philosophe Forum on Fri, 09/19/2008 - 20:50
In checking the pdf of the legislation, it looks like Shimkus completely missed SEC. 7103. OIL SHALE AND TAR SANDS LEASING. Then again, reading is a stretch for the man.
As for his rant on coal -- translation: He is really POed that he did not get a 6-figure earmark for one of his favorite industry constituents.
ALISON, MPA
http://philosopheforum.blogspot.com/
"Responsible Leadership Serving the Public Trust"
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