Michigan Democrat Gary Peters’ environmentalist platform is about to get a boost from Washington influence peddlers, including one whose firm has lobbied on behalf of the Keystone Pipeline.
Peters is scheduled to attend a Rhode Island fundraiser sponsored by the state’s leading Democrats on June 12. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Sen. Jack Reed, and Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts will join Peters at Jacky's Waterplace and Sushi Bar where guests are expected to pay between $100 and $1,000 per plate.
Peters’ campaign chairman, Rhode Island native Paul Tencher, has connected the three-term congressman with some of the state’s most powerful politicos, including a number of prominent lawyers and lobbyists that are helping the campaign recruit guests.
Clinton-era Democratic National Committee honcho Donald R. Sweitzer is a member of the fundraiser’s organizing committee, according to Rhode Island Public Radio. Sweitzer is as an independent consultant and senior strategic adviser at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, a prominent K Street firm.
While Peters has campaigned as an ardent environmentalist, supporting EPA regulations on carbon emissions and hydraulic fracturing, McKenna Long & Aldridge have received tens of thousands of dollars to lobby in support of the Keystone Pipeline from TransCanada and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Despite overwhelming public support, construction of the pipeline has been held up by the Obama administration as Democrats fear alienating wealthy environmentalist backers such as Tom Steyer, who has pledged $100 million to Democrats opposed to the pipeline’s construction.
Peters was one of Steyer’s earliest beneficiaries. The congressman and Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.) raised $400,000 for Reid’s Super PAC in a February fundraiser at Steyer’s San Francisco mansion. The Super PAC has since spent more than $2,000,000 attacking Peters’ opponent, Republican Terri Lynn Land.
Sweitzer’s firm has also led a media blitz to condemn pipeline opponents as unreasonable. Gordon Giffin, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada and chairman of McKenna Long & Aldridge’s Public Policy and International department, told the Globe and Mail that the midterm elections would send a message to politicians to support the pipeline.
"I have confidence that reason will prevail in Washington in 2014 on many fronts … based on the merits, the pipeline will receive a presidential permit in the spring of next year," Gordon told the paper in January.
Sweitzer is not the first donor whose business contradicts the message of the Peters campaign. One of the congressman’s largest donors is Michigan-based Dow Chemical, which has contributed nearly $30,000. Dow stands to profit enormously off of the shale and natural gas industry and has called for increased hydraulic fracturing in Michigan, even as Peters worked to limit the practice in Congress. Peters not only cashed the contributions, he also invested thousands of dollars in the company since the start of the campaign, according to Politico.
Peters has tried to spin the company’s environmental record in recent weeks, arguing it is moving away from its investments and profits in fossil fuels at a May policy conference.
"When you talk about Dow Chemical, a lot of folks think about an old world chemical company, but they’re actually a leading edge environmental technology, new cutting edge alternative technologies in solar and geothermal and insulation," Peters said.
Peters spokeswoman Haley Morris told Politico that the Democrat’s warm words had nothing to do with his recent bond buys.
"Gary is always proud to showcase the work and leadership of Michigan businesses," she said. "Midland, Michigan’s Dow Chemical employs thousands of Michiganders and is on the forefront of the kind of innovation that can save Michiganders money and create even more jobs."
The Peters campaign did not respond to Washington Free Beacon interview requests about the Rhode Island fundraiser.
The fundraiser will take place on June 12 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.