The Danville Register Bee is hammering Virginia Uranium, Inc. for spending $95,000 on lobbyists to help win approval for the study on uranium mining. The paper has even printed an op-ed piece where the author compares uranium opponents to the bible’s David.
The Virginia environmental lobby would like you to think they battled Goliath when the study was being debated earlier this year, but their characterization of themselves as a modern-day David is a complete misrepresentation.
Eight Virginia environmental groups** spent over $143,000 on lobbyists this year. These groups don’t run boot-strap operations; their campaign coffers aren’t dwarfed by Virginia Uranium’s. The Virginia environmental lobby is a well-oiled fundraising machine that has the cash to fight whomever may stand in their way.
The Danville Register Bee quoted Southside Concerned Citizen's board member Eloise Nenon as saying it was “ludicrous” to believe that anti-mining groups are throwing their money around in Richmond. The lobbying disclosures show us that Nenon’s statement is a total fabrication.
It’s irresponsible for The Danville Register Bee to scrutinize Virginia Uranium’s lobbying efforts without looking into spending by the environmental lobby. If they did, Virginians would see that the uranium mining debate isn’t pitting David versus Goliath.
* The title is a quote I read from a poster on The Danville Register Bee’s website. They were responding to a story about uranium mining. I unfortunately don’t have a link to the post.
** These groups include Piedmont Environmental Council ($32,385), Virginia League of Conservation Voters ($30,230), Southern Environmental Law Center ($12,845), Sierra Club Virginia ($6,977), Earthsource Solutions ($6,000), Chesapeake Bay Foundation ($46,500), Chesapeake Climate Action Network ($5,500), National Parks Conservation Association ($1,200) and the Tropical Forest Foundation ($2,000).
The Virginia environmental lobby would like you to think they battled Goliath when the study was being debated earlier this year, but their characterization of themselves as a modern-day David is a complete misrepresentation.
Eight Virginia environmental groups** spent over $143,000 on lobbyists this year. These groups don’t run boot-strap operations; their campaign coffers aren’t dwarfed by Virginia Uranium’s. The Virginia environmental lobby is a well-oiled fundraising machine that has the cash to fight whomever may stand in their way.
The Danville Register Bee quoted Southside Concerned Citizen's board member Eloise Nenon as saying it was “ludicrous” to believe that anti-mining groups are throwing their money around in Richmond. The lobbying disclosures show us that Nenon’s statement is a total fabrication.
It’s irresponsible for The Danville Register Bee to scrutinize Virginia Uranium’s lobbying efforts without looking into spending by the environmental lobby. If they did, Virginians would see that the uranium mining debate isn’t pitting David versus Goliath.
* The title is a quote I read from a poster on The Danville Register Bee’s website. They were responding to a story about uranium mining. I unfortunately don’t have a link to the post.
** These groups include Piedmont Environmental Council ($32,385), Virginia League of Conservation Voters ($30,230), Southern Environmental Law Center ($12,845), Sierra Club Virginia ($6,977), Earthsource Solutions ($6,000), Chesapeake Bay Foundation ($46,500), Chesapeake Climate Action Network ($5,500), National Parks Conservation Association ($1,200) and the Tropical Forest Foundation ($2,000).
2 comments:
Did you contact each of those eight groups to actually verify that ALL of that money (or any of it in some groups) was used to lobby in support of a moratorium on uranium mining and milling? If not, that's extremely misleading, wouldn't you agree? Whereas all of the money VUI spent for lobbying was for one sole purpose.
I didn't verify the amount of money spent by each environmental group during the debate over the uranium mining study. I'm sure they didn't spend their entire lobbying budget fighting VUI. Although, I'm sure they spent a great deal on lobbying efforts.
I didn't include that information in this post because I wasn't focusing on how much they spent lobbying against the study.
I was trying to explain why environmental groups comparing themselves to David is a mischaracterization. They aren't hurting for funds; they're flush with cash.
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