Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Radio Ad: Pearce & Wilson Protect Polluters

The direct hits just keep coming for the candidates vying for the Repub nomination in the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico. The latest revelations call out Reps. Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson for their nasty habit of taking campaign contributions from corporate interests that harm the environment -- and reciprocating by doing the polluters' dirty work in Washington.

The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund launched a new radio ad today denouncing Pearce and Wilson as “a flip of the coin” when it comes to protecting producers of a potential carcinogen contaminating New Mexico water supplies from liability -- while accepting tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from those companies. You can listen to the ad here. It will run for a week, starting today, on KKSS-FM 97.3, KKOB-FM 93.3, KMGA-FM 99.5, KBQI-FM 107.9, KRST-FM 92.3 and KPEK-FM 100.3.

“Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce are two bad for New Mexicans concerned about their water quality safety,” said Ed Yoon, Defenders Action Fund’s New Mexico Campaign Manager. “Shame on them for protecting toxic chemical producers rather than their constituents, who are at risk from MTBE-contaminated water.”

According to data provided by Defenders, New Mexico has hundreds of sites where the groundwater is contaminated with the toxic chemical called Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether, better known abbreviated as MTBE, which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies as a “potential carcinogen.”[1]  It is often released into groundwater and surface water through underground storage tanks and pipelines, spills or emissions.

Reps. Pearce and Wilson, however, voted to give the producers of this toxic chemical immunity from legal action for contaminating New Mexico’s water systems, including drinking water from tap sources.

Further infomation documents that in 2005, Wilson and Pearce supported an effort to protect producers of MTBE from lawsuits that stemmed from contaminated drinking water sources. At that time, the nation had 1,861 water systems in 29 states with traces of MTBE and several communities were suing the manufacturers to help pay for the cleanups. The legal shield to protect MTBE manufacturers was championed by the former disgraced House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), whose state is home to several manufacturers of MTBE.

A chart provided by Defenders based on FEC campaign reports shows that Rep. Wilson received $61,500 and Rep. Pearce received $44,500 from the lobbyists representing the makers of MTBE. Even more scandalous, both Wilson and Pearce took campaign money directly before – and directly after – voting to protect the makers of MTBE.[2]

Contributions from Producers of MTBE

Rep.Heather Wilson 2004-06	Producers of MTBE	Rep. Steve Pearce 2004-06
$27,500	Valero Energy	$17,000
$15,000	Exxon Mobil	$16,500
$13,000	Chevron Texaco	$7,000
$4,000	BP	$4,000
$2,000	Lyondell Chemical
$61,500	TOTAL	$44,500

“New Mexico deserves better than politicians like Pearce and Wilson that would rather protect their chemical industry campaign contributors than preventing health risks to ordinary families due to toxic chemicals,” Yoon continued. “Our campaign will continue to highlight their terribly long record of serving special interests over people’s interests.”

For more information, please go to www.2Bad4NM.org.

[1] www.epa.gov
[2] Center for Responsive Politics; www.fec.gov

Also see the TV ad by the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund that's been running on local TV recently about the dismal environmental records of Pearce and Wilson.

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