Another Reason Not to Drill in ANWR: Sen. Ted Stevens Indicted on Federal Corruption Charges
Prosecutors say friend of ‘Big Oil’ was on the take - and lied about it
Long time Republican Senator Ted Stevens, perhaps best known today for his advocacy of federal funding for the “bridge to nowhere” and his reference to the internet as a “series of tubes,” has been indicted by a federal grand jury on corruption charges. Stevens faces seven counts of making false statements involving an investigation about VECO, the oil services company in Alaska, and renovations done on his home.
From May 1999 to August 2007, prosecutors said Stevens concealed “his continuing receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value from a private corporation.” The indictment released Tuesday said the items included: home improvements to his vacation home in Alaska, including a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing, electrical wiring; as well as car exchanges, a Viking gas grill, furniture and tools, the Associated Press reports.
VECO was once the dominant force in Alaska oil services industry. Its founder, Allen, and vice president, Rick Smith, have pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers to push legislation to help the company. While it is unclear what, if any, direct relationship there may have been between VECO and the push to drill in ANWR, the implications do not bode well for the Republican, who was thought to be a shoe-in when he faced re-election this November.
Not exactly a friend of the environment
Earlier this month Stevens had the dishonorable distinction of being named to the League of Conservation Voters’ “Dirty Dozen,” an annual compilation of current and former members of Congress who consistently vote against the environment.
Stevens has been one of the biggest global warming deniers delayers in congress over the last several decades. Last September, he told the people of Shishmaref, a village that has lost hundreds of feet of coastline to rising sea levels, not to worry, because “We’re at the end of a long, long term of warming. 700 to 900 years of increased temperature, a very slow increase. We think we’re close to the end of that.”
“For forty years in the Senate, Ted Stevens has stood in the way of progress. Today, he literally lives in the house that oil built,” League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski said. “With his scandalous ties to the oil industry finally exposed, Alaska has the chance to let Mr. Stevens retire to that nice house.”
The indictment stops short of charging Stevens with bribery or other traditional corruption crimes. Had prosecutors been able to prove any special treatment for VECO, much stronger charges would have been filed.
Stevens has maintained he didn’t do anything for VECO that he didn’t do for any other constituent or pro-Alaska interest.
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Photo: Wikimedia
OK,, explain to me why we shouldn’t use our own resources instead of sending our cash overseas just because some politician has allegedly had some work done on his house that he didn’t pay for? What a bunch of pin heads,, lol..
Dave M-
First, let’s try to keep this civil. I’m not a big fan of the name-calling strategy, and frankly it makes your argument that much weaker. My concern is with the political process that put ANWR on the table to begin with. Stevens support for ANWR has been clear from day one - it is essentially one of the primary planks of his political platform.
I want to know how much his support for opening up ANWR is directly related to the money being stuffed in his pockets (i.e How many hearings were held because of it? How many other energy bills, the kinds with extensions of renewable energy tax credits and improved CAFE standards were obstructed because of it? etc.)
This is problematic on so many different levels it’s not even funny.
Dave, You are correct. We should definitely use our own resources instead of sending our cash overseas. There are plenty of wind, solar, tidal, geothermal, etc. options right here at home that can create more energy than drilling in ANWR ever could. If only renewable energy had the same financial (read: political) clout as the coal and oil industry…
So, you are half way there–you are all for energy independence, and need only to jump on the renewable-energy-powered bandwagon.
PS-Your hostility is misdirected–Big Oil is not looking out for your best interests–quite the opposite…
Apparently you don’t understand who Stevens is alleged to have taken services from. The company was VECO, it was a oil field service company,, NOT a oil producer. They had no control over where drilling was done. The company doesn’t even exist any longer. And if you think wind or solar are going to replace oil at the same cost your smoking something funny. Maybe sometime in the distant future but not anytime soon. To try to run this country and have it prosper and to do it with wind and solar is a joke, it will only drive costs up more for the consumer.
Also just because I call you a pin head it does not change the facts of my argument and if it hurts your feelings it’s not my problem it’s yours, get some thicker skin..
[...] 29, 2008 · No Comments Ted Stevens of Alaska has been indicted on corruption charges. His slavish loyalty to the desires of the oil and telecommunications [...]
Dave-
Please, spare me the spoon-fed talking points. I know what VECO is and where they made their money. Ironically, it seems you are simultaneously missing my point and making it for me.
It doesn’t matter that VECO is “NOT a oil producer” and only an oil field service company.. Where do you think their profits come from? And the fact that the company is now defunct is irrelevant.
Keep in mind, Halliburton is an oil field service company and there’s no way they had any sweetheart deals with the feds that netted them billions, right? They won all of their contracts fair and square through open bidding processes, right?
My point is Stevens has proven himself to be a crook beholden to the interests of the oil INDUSTRY - not just the oil producers - and that his bias has gotten in the way of the U.S. forging a sound energy policy.
Sorry Timmy,, the only people in the way of a sound energy policy is the lib’s who think if you bend a blade of grass the world will come to a end….
As much as I enjoy poking you lib’s I do have better things to do. I’m also realistic, no matter what I or any common sense thinking person has to say it will never change your way of thinking. So go ahead and put your Macintosh away, slip on your Birkenstocks and enjoy your day….
What is it that you people don’t get about drilling offshore in the U.S.? There will be no immediate drop in gas prices. There probably never will be a drop in gas prices! It’ll be 10 or more years b4 any of this gets to our markets. By the time the oil companies charge us for the cost of drilling, transporting and refining this oil you can expect to be paying even more for gasoline. This is just a political trick by Republicans to get you to vote for them because they are gonna save us!! How are you doing so far?
Wow. A politician lied about big oil? Really? How shocking. It reminds me of all of the people who want to drill here to “reduce our reliance” on foreign oil. Are people really naive enough to think that OPEC is just going to let us off the hook from thier lucrative trade arrangements?
Republicans, Democrats, Democrats, Republicans..The majority of all the pols are full of feces on one point or another, and supported by special interests. I am an Independent and support drilling in ANWAR and off our continental shelf. Yes, it will take years to develope, and yes ,the fact we are seriously test drilling will drop the price of oil. In the mean time,we work the alternatives, and nuclear. How are we going to charge the millions of electric cars? They are clean and thier end source is dirty………