Rep. William Dannemeyer (R-Calif.) is the antithesis of the usual television-slick, one-eye-on-the-polls southern California congressman.
He's opinionated, outspoken, and apparently unconcerned about public opinion.
Not surprisingly, he's one of the few California congressmen who supports offshore drilling. And he's one of the very few congressmen who dares to criticize the environmental movement.
LAMBASTING ENVIRONMENTALISTS
It may be the "Decade of the Environment," but Dannemeyer has lambasted the environmental movement at recent House energy committee hearings. And as he speaks, his unpolitic audacity seems to make other congressmen on the dais cringe.
He thinks environmentalists effectively are a political party because of the massive monetary and grassroots resources they have managed to tap across this country.
He said Federal Election Commission data show three major Republican political organizations received $71 million in contributions in 1989 from a donor base of about 1.8 million persons, while three Democratic groups received $18 million from a donor base of about 490,000.
But he said 12 major environmental organizations had a total budget of $336 million in 1988 and a donor base of 13 million-nearly $250 million and 10 million donors more than the Republican and Democratic parties combined.
Dannemeyer said the environmental movement "has got a real but invisible ring through the noses of Congress and has stopped energy development in this country," mostly through use of the Endangered Species Act-"which places critters and animals above humans"-in blocking nuclear power, offshore oil leasing, and exploration of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain.
"One of the greatest ironies manifest by the Environmental party is their zealous concern for oil shipped by tankers, combined with their adamant stand against offshore oil," Dannemeyer said. "Almost every last drop of imported oil comes to us by tankers like the Exxon Valdez, and yet the Environmental party refused to promote safe, ecologically sound offshore oil expansion as a matter of environmental policy."
As a result, he said, the U.S. has banned oil development off much of its shoreline and has sent soldiers to defend oil consumed largely by Japan and western Europe.
"The Environmental party would rather have us send our kids to be killed defending oil shipped by tankers which they view as an environmental threat. Figure that out."
A SECURITY THREAT
What's more, Dannemeyer said, "The Environmental party is an awesome new dimension in American politics. They are a much bigger security threat than Saddam Hussein could ever hope to be.
"We are being held hostage by extremists. They leave no room to negotiate. It is time for Americans to rise up and regain their national security. We should demand energy independence."
Unfortunately, Dannemeyer is an extremist, too. But it would be a mistake to ignore his message-as his fellow congressmen are doing-just because it makes you uncomfortable.
Copyright 1990 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.