Not only did Pombo go down...

[skids]

...but the guy who beat him, Rep. elect Jerry McNerney, is a wind industry professional.

He has a small company that does odd jobs in design and windfarm refurbishments, though it appears that the campaign distracted them and they forgot to pay their hosting provider -- use the below google link and click on the "cached" to see their old webpages.

http://www.google.com/search?as_q=site%3Ahawtpower.com

As to whether that company will continue now that their CEO has other things to do, well that's an open question. But this was more than just getting rid of Pombo: this guy knows alternative energy. It's a triumph, folks!

Some more info on Jerry's career -- not only is he an alternative energy pro, but one with ethics -- he was fired from one of his positions because he was blowing the whistle on some bad engineering practices which indeed came back to haunt that company and put it out of business. He went on to make money fixing/retrofitting their bad designs among other things.

http://tracypress.com/content/view/5375/2/

[ecoalex1]

1. Pombo needed flushed

He got a 0 score from all enviornmental groups.The bill he had to sell the Nat'l Parks was another of his anti enviornmental schemes.What would you expect from a chemical soaked farmer from the Central Valley?

[texpatriot2004]

8. Pombo needed to go down. You are right and welcome to DU.

:hi:

Did you ever see this website? www.pombointheirpocket.org

[JudyM]

11. He was awful for animal welfare, too. Glad to see him go. Welcome to DU! nt

[tularetom]

2. Don't have a link but

I saw an article somewhere saying that Pombo for all his bluster and bullshit was remarkably ineffective at getting any of his goofy bills passed. One of his gems wouldhave gutted the endangered species act and it was too far out for even gingrich who shitcanned it before it even made it to the floor.

[Frances]

3. McNerney gives the lie to the idea that the new Dems

are conservatives. I think the MSM is trying to spin the facts. Webb, Testor, and other Dems are economic progressives.

[NNadir]

4. Pombo is part owner of a wind farm.

Windfarm regulations
Pombo's home town of Tracy, California has a large wind farm on Altamont Pass. In 2004, Pombo’s office sent a letter to then-Secretary of the Department of the Interior Gale Norton, urging the suspension of environmental guidelines opposed by the wind power industry. Pombo’s parents have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties from wind-powered turbines on their 300-acre ranch. Pombo owns an interest in his parents' ranch.<17>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pombo

There is no question that the defeat of Pombo was an important victory for humanity, and I'm quite sure that being a Democrat, Jerry McNerney will be a positive force in the House of Representatives and an agent for positive change.

That said, the equation wind executive = noble guy is ridiculous on its face.

I have mentioned before that one of the more odious supporters of George W. Bush in the watershed disaster of the 2000 election was Sam Wyly, owner of Green Mountain Energy, a renewable energy company that puts surcharges on people's electricity bill to provide "green" energy. Of course I am not an electrical engineer, but somehow I very much doubt that Wyly's company really has a device that sorts coal pushed electrons from wind produced electrons, but that's neither here nor there.

http://www.tpj.org/press_releases/chicken.html

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F1FFB3C5C0C778CDDAA0894D8404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fW%2fWyly%2c%20Sam

Sam Wyly, wealthy Texas businessman and one of Gov George W Bush's biggest campaign contributors, admits paying $2.5 million for questionable political commercials sharply criticizing Sen John McCain environmental record and touting Bush's; says he paid for ads to highlight environmental issues at time when public is paying attention to presidential race; denies any contact whatsoever with Bush campaign over commercials; Bush similarly denies link; McCain aides accuse Bush campaign of being behind ads, describing them as scurrilous attempt to evade campaign finance laws; accuse Bush campaign of trying to steal election by placing huge amount of anti-NcCain ads on air in New York, California and Ohio just days before primaries; ads described

http://www.boycottgreenmountain.com/mccain-ads-austin.html

I would suggest that Congressman-elect McNerney will face difficult conflict of interest issues under some circumstances. On one hand, nobody objects to wind power. On the other hand, it is really not a good idea for a congressperson voting on bills from which he will derive a direct financial benefit. One wonders if he will put his wind portfolio in a blind trust.

[skids]

5. If you read the linked article...

You'll see that McNerney has integrity. His decision to risk, and lose, his position at Kenentech belies his character. Whether or not he even has a "wind portfolio" is not established -- all I see that he has is ownership of self-run hand-to-mouth operations that will likely either fold or change hands now that he isn't around to run them. As a congressman, he will have to disclose, and from reading his history, will likely willfully comply with Pelosi's new strict rules.

[NNadir]

6. Good. That's all one can ask.

To be frank, I did what I implied what you were doing, having a knee jerk response. I didn't read the article but merely reacted. As a person who if often critical in general of knee jerk responses, I am now, in this case, in the position of being a hypocrite.

I was wrong and I apologize.

One cannot be too happy that Pombo is gone, and I'm sure that his replacement will prove to be a very fine man worthy of the House of Representatives, an organization that has recently suffered a huge shock to its reputation because of men like Pombo. McNerney did right.

[dalaigh lllama]

10. It's responses like this that make me proud

to be a member of the DU community. Politicians, take note: this is how grownups are supposed to act.

[NNadir]

12. Don't get used to it. Generally I'm an asshole.

;-)

[skids]

13. lol. n/t

[dalaigh lllama]

14. Heh!

:spray:

[w4rma]

7. And none of them tried to hide their positions either. They *campaigned* on them. (nt)

[jpak]

9. And Senator Elect Jon Tester (D-MT) is an organic farmer

:thumbsup:

[happydreams]

15. "The answer my friend...is blowin' in the wind...the answer is

blowin' in the wind".

I had to say it. Maybe use it as a logo?

[mcg]

16. League of Conservation Voters endorsements - results so far look good

http://www.lcv.org/campaigns/endorsements/