Greenpeace

Friday, October 22 at an Ohio TV station debate, I questioned both OH-18 Congressional District candidates, Zack Space and Bob Gibbs, on the fact that they've taken huge contributions from the coal industry. How could they support the energy revolution we need when they both take money from the coal industry?

Check out the video, my question begins at minute 41:

Wow! Not only did they both completely dodge the question, but Mr. Space claimed there’s such a thing as “clean coal” and Mr. Gibbs DENIED GLOBAL WARMING.

I wonder if it’s because both of them have indeed taken huge sums of money from the coal industry. How much money, you ask?

Zack Space - $174,050 (since 2006)
Bob Gibbs - $27,499 (2010 campaign)

Ohio is full of candidates running for election on November 2nd who’ve taken money from the coal industry and their employees and PACs . Here’s just a short list:

Rob Portman - $32,250 (2010 campaign)
Lee Fisher - $35,900 (2010 campaign)

Steve Stivers - $46,700 (2010 campaign)
Mary Jo Kilroy - $7,300 (since 2008)

Pat Tiberi - $250,406 (since 2001)
Paul Brooks -  $6,800 (2010 campaign)

The good news is that they are all being called out. A letter to the editor in one of Ohio’s biggest newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch, called on Tiberi, Space and Kilroy to “give back every penny of the coal industry’s dirty money”.

And Wednesday, the Stivers campaign, Kilroy campaign, Fisher campaign, and Portman campaign were all the recipients of large novelty checks from some well-dressed “Coal CEOs”. These checks showed the contributions each candidates had taken from dirty energy companies. We made sure they knew that taking money for polluting industry means they aren’t listening to the people!

We had a blast delivering the huge checks, but at the Ohio Republican Party office where the Stivers campaign was headquartered, we weren't greeted warmly - to say the least! A staffer cracked the door just enough to squeeze his head out and demand to know what we wanted. He  had no interest in hearing that we were bringing the Stiver’s campaign funding from the coal industry, he just told us to leave. We were able to talk to him just long enough to hand off the huge novelty check for the Stivers Campaign! Hmmm...some campaigns just don’t like to hear from their “donors,” I guess!!

Also, at the Kilroy campaign headquarters the staff refused to accept their check from the coal industry “CEOs” claiming that Kilroy wasn't taking dirty energy money.  Well that's not what campaign filings say!

Is your politician's ear being bought off by the coal and oil industry?  Check DirtyEnergyMoney.org or OpenSecrets.org and call them out, too!