Trempealeau County Officials Hope for Greatly Expanded Use of Sand Bunkers

Good Times Run Out for Sand Producers.  (The Wall Street Journal, 1/1/2015)

Sand companies’ biggest customers used to be golf courses and glass manufacturers, but the oil boom brought energy clients to their door and now roughly 60% of business is tied to fracking, according to PacWest Consulting Partners, which forecasts sand demand.

Now that oil prices have fallen, many fracking companies are retrenching—and that is bad news for sand producers.

Earlier this fall PacWest projected sand use would grow by 20% each year in 2015 and 2016. But following the plunge in oil prices, PacWest now expects sand demand to stay flat.

Other mining posts:
What Do Chieftain Sand and Source Energy Have in Common? (12/24/2014)
Tom "Terrific-for-the-Frac-Sand-Mining-Industry" Tiffany.  (12/19/2014)
Trempealeau County Residents Wonder If Their Drinking Water is Contaminated.  (10/16/2014) 
2010: Scott Walker pledges to get government out of the way.  (9/30/2014) 
More hills posed to go away.  (9/27/2014)
A personal account of the impact of frac sand mining.  (9/26/2014) 
Report: Communities At Risk: Frac Sand Mining in the Upper Midwest.  (9/26/2014) 
Makes you wonder: Do campaign contributions pay for a license to pollute?  (9/15/2014)
Maybe it has something to do with the hardhat.  (8/9/2014)
In other words, Kevin, people don't want to live near a frac sand mining operation.  (8/7/2014) 
UPDATED: Scott Walker continues his "Thank You for Your Contributions" tour.  (8/3/2014)
What a mere $8,000 will buy you in the Scott Walker House of Favors,  (3/30/2014)
Frac sand mining and property values: Homeowners vs. landowners.  (3/30/2014)
Nevertheless, transparency would have been in the general pubic's best interest.  (3/15/2014)
Wisconsin Towns Association has second thoughts about that "gentler" frac sand mining regulation bill. (3/4/014)
Scott Walker likely to support Tom Tiffany's new mining bill.  (2/27/2014)
The vision of Trempealeau County as one big mining operation -- nipped in the bud.  (2/20/2014)
Glenwood City Council members defeat their recall challengers by a hair.  (12/18/2013)
Wyoming's Republican Governor has a message for Wisconsin mining industry's "Tom Terrific".  (11/24/2013)
The mining industry's "Tom Terrific" gets pushback from his Republican colleagues.  (11/18/2013)
In so many words: Dear Sen. Tiffany, Your bill sucks, Sincerely, Pepin County Board.  (11/13/2013)
Follow the Gogebic money.  (11/7/2013)
Sand mine industry leaders put our minds at ease.  (11/5/2013) 
Scott Walker donor promises jobs, permanence for Independence and Whitehall residents.  (10/29/2013) 
Sen. Tom Tiffany's sand mine bill a hot potato.  (10/28/2013) 
Another Walker campaign donor for SB349.  (10/25/2013)
Expensive to the Tune of $430,505.49 (as of June 30, 2013).  (10/25/2013) 
The Nipper Chronicles: The frac sand mining masters speak.  (10/18/2013)
Things aren't so tranquil in Glenwood City Wisconsin lately  (10/10/2013)

Open Enrollment's Impact on the McFarland School District

Focus on Dane County: McFarland recommends limiting open enrollment.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 1/2/2015)

In fall 2013, a Madison School District report showed that 78 would-be Glendale students went to McFarland through open enrollment, and 20 more went to the Monona Grove School District — by far the highest number of students leaving any Madison elementary school.

And why are parents looking elsewhere?

Without knowing the racial make-up of the 98 students who attended other schools through the open enrollment program, I can't say how much part 2 has to do with the situation.

Barbara Gorton O'Bier (1943?-2014) Warren Area High School Class of 1961

Warren Times Observer

1961 Dragon yearbook

"Barbara" spent 32 years in the top 10 -- from 1927 until 1958.  She enjoyed a run of 8 years (1937-1944) at #2, always playing second fiddle to Mary.  Life has been a bit of a bouncy experience for her of late.

This song was finishing up an 8-week run in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 when the class of '61 graduated.  (And Retiring Guy had just finished up a year in Mrs. Johnson's 5th grade class at Jefferson Street School.)


Other class of 1961 members:
Charles Grinnen III.  (7/15/2014)
Ronald Hultman.  (6/24/2014)
Patricia Martin.  (2/17/2014)

The "Wonder Theaters" of New York and New Jersey

 Kings Theater in Flatbush Set to Reopen, and Lift a Neighborhood.  (The New York Times, 12/30/2014)

5 -- count 'em -- 5. 

Kings Theater was one of five “wonder theaters” in New York and New Jersey built in 1929 and 1930 by the Loews movie theater chain. The Kings, designed by the architectural firm Rapp & Rapp, had interiors by the Rambusch Company that were inspired by the Palace of Versailles and Paris Opera House. With its reopening, four of the theaters — the Jersey, in Jersey City; the Paradise, in the Bronx; the 175th Street Theater, in Upper Manhattan; and the Kings — will be used for entertainment. The fifth, the Valencia in Jamaica, Queens, is now a church.

The 70s Get the Shaft at Sweet and Sassy

From 2010.


.
After a Spa Day, Looking Years Younger (O.K., They’re Only 7). (The New York Times,1/2/2015)

The spa industry has begun to target children in a big way, going way beyond mother-daughter manicures. Adult spas are adding separate menus of services for girls, usually ages 4 to 14. In most major cities, there are now dedicated day spas for children, offering a range of massages, facials and other treatments for girls (and sometimes boys) too young to have had their first pimple.

The $35 Ice Princess makeover package* includes:

• braid like Anna or Elsa (full disclosure:  this was initially a Retiring Guy stumper)
• Ice Princess nails
• make-up application
• snowflake glitter star
• Ice Princess necklace
• Ice Princess tiara
• Ice Princess photo
• $2 Sassy buck

*Pricing and participation may vary by locations.  While supplies last.
 
The limo ride is a $50 add-on -- per person, I assume.

A DJ Dance includes the following themes

• sock-hop 50s
• hippie 60s
• big hair 80s
• neon 90s

The 70s get the



Then there's the aptly named "All About Me" birthday girl special.

No Sweet and Sassy franchises operate in the upper Midwest.

No Friend to the Environment: Republican Representative Todd Young, Indiana's 9th Congressional District

  Photo source:  U.S. Congress

Text source:  Insurance Newsnet

Young was re-elected to a 3rd term with 62% of the vote.   He serves on no environmental committees.

Recommended reading/viewing for Rep. Young and his south-central Indiana constituents.

Getting ready for climate change -- right now.  (JC Online, 9/27/2014)

Johnson said all Indiana residents should be concerned about climate change because when one part of the state gets hit with severe weather, it can raise insurance costs for everyone.

No Friend to the Environment dishonor roll.

Alabama Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives.   (Their anti-environmentalism can be summed up in one word:  coal.  Which is odd, since Alabama contributes a mere 1.9% of U.S. production, good enough for an overall ranking of 13.  The state's peak year of production:  1990)  

• 1st District.  Bradley Byrne (R).  Proposed an amendment that would have cut all FY 2015 funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 
• 2nd District.  Martha Roby (R).   Voted YES on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling and barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. Signed the No Climate Tax Pledge by Americans for Prosperity.
• 3rd District.  Mike Rogers (R).   League of Conservation scorecard: 2013: 0%.  Lifetime (2003-): 9%. 
• 4th District.  Robert Aderholt (R).  Without bothering to fact-check, he uses a discredited petition rejecting climate change to make a point. 
• 5th District.  Mo Brooke (R).  Climate Experts Testify that Climate Change Projections are Unreliable and Misleading.
• 6th District.  Stephen Baucus (R).   League of Conservation scorecard: 2013: 0% Lifetime (1993- ): 8%

Alaska Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• At-large District.  Don Young (R).   Ridiculed environmentalists as a “self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots.....not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.” 

 Arizona Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 4th District.  Paul Gosar (R).   Takes his environmental cues from cattle and sheep producers.
• 5th District.  Matt Salmon (R).   This quote sums up his view:  “I found the source of global warming is coming from the hot air coming out of Washington.”  Signed Koch Brothers "No Climate Tax" pledge. 
• 6th District.  David Schweikert (R).  Known to throw a hissy over "the Al Gores of the world".  Chairs House Subcommittee on Environment. 
• 8th District.  Trent Franks (R).   League of Conservation scorecard:2013: 11%.  Lifetime (since 2003): 5%. 

Arkansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Rick Crawford (R).   Vow to his constituents:  "As long as the Obama EPA continues its assault on farmers, I will continue to fight senseless regulations that only serve to cripple American agriculture." 
• 2nd District.  Tim Griffin (R).  Perhaps one of the few scientists in the Republican House caucus.  As far as global warming is concerned, he claims "that there are a lot of shenanigans going on with the data."   
• 3rd District.  Steve Womack (R).   Loves his fossil fuels.
• 4th District.  Tom Cotton (R).  Claims the earth's temperature hasn't warmed in 16 years, a climate denier meme.  The reality:  9 of the 10 warmest years on record occurred since 1998.

California Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Doug LaMalfa (R).  Ask him about air conditioners, packing plants, or praying for rain.
• 4th District.  Tom McClintock (R).  Still smarting that he never received a Nobel Prize in the 3rd grade. 
• 8th District.  Paul Cook (R).   ALEC shill for the Keystone pipeline. 
• 10th District.  Jeff Denham (R).  Appears to think that climate skeptics are on "the right side of the issue."  
• 21st District.  David Valadao (R).  Represents a portion of California's Central Valley, a hotbed of climate skepticism, as the representative's League of Conservation Voters scorecard indicates. 
• 22nd District.  Devin Nunes (R).   Throws hissy fit, a Republican specialty, over what he calls Obama's extremist climate agenda.
• 23rd District.  Kevin McCarthy (R).   Bemoans those dang "harmful regulations".
• 25th District.  Buck McKeon (R).  7% lifetime score on League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard after 24 years in House.
• 31st District.  Gary Miller (R).   3% lifetime score on League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard after 14 years in House.
• 39th District.  Ed Royce (R).  A liberal among the California Republican caucus:  a 13% lifetime score on the League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard. 
• 42nd District.  Ken Calvert (R).  Although comfortably ensconced in the Republican environmental mainstream, he's not above making an heretical remark or two.
• 45th District.  John Campbell (R).  Signer of Americans for Prosperity "No Climate Tax Pledge"; 9% lifetime score from the League of Conservative Voters, 
• 48th District.  Dana Rohrabacher (R).  Mouths the same climate denier meme as the newly elected U.S. Senator from Arkansas.
• 49th District.  Darrell Issa (R).  The richest member of Congress, he recently won the League of Conservation Voters "Climate Denier Award". 
• 50th District.  Duncan Hunter (R).  Can you top this?  "Thousands of people die every year of cold, so if we had global warming it would save lives." 

Colorado Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 3rd District.  Scott Tipton (R).  Tree rings tell us all we need to know.
• 4th District.  Cory Gardner (R).  Another beneficiary of the 2010 Tea Party wave.  And he adjusted his views accordingly.
• 5th District.  Doug Lamborn (R).  Works tirelessly to assure that climate change remains "an extremely controversial topic".   (Is also a big fan of impeaching Obama.)  
• 6th District.  Mike Coffman (R).   Solidly parks his butt in the the-science-is-not-quite-settled camp. 

No House Republicans hail from Connecticut and Delaware. 
Florida Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Jeff Miller (R).  "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones.  They're the modern Stone Age fam-a-lee."
• 2nd District.  Steve Southerland (R).  Spouts the company line.
• 3rd District.  Ted Yoho (R).  "I'm not smart enough for that."
• 4th District.  Ander Crenshaw (R).  All talk, no action.
• 6th District.  Ron DeSantis (R).  As reported by ThinkProgress, a majority of Congressional Republicans are climate deniers.  At this point in the exercise, we appear to have unanimity.
• 7th District.  John Mica (R).   7% lifetime score from League of Conservation Voters after 22 years in the House.
• 8th District.  Bill Posey (R). Sez climate change has been with us since the Earth was formed.  (Pick your date.)
• 10th District.  Daniel Webster (R).  9% score from League of Conservation Voters during his 2 terms in office.
• 11th District.  Richard Nugent (R).   6% score from League of Conservation Voters during his 2 terms in office.
• 12th District.  Gus Bilirakis (R).  Big fan of fossil fuels. 
• 13th District.  David Jolly (R).  Happy to drift along with the fossil-fuel flow. 
• 15th District.  Dennis Ross (R)  It's all about personal responsibility. 
• 16th District.  Vern Buchanan (R).  Proud to represent his rich waterfront property owners. 
• 17th District.  Tom Rooney (R).   One of 48 Republican House members with a 0% score from the National League of Conservation Voters in 2013.
• 19th District.  Curt Clawson (R).  Suggests that climate change "may not exist".
• 25th District.  Mario Diaz-Balart (R).  Not ready to jump on the global warming bandwagon. 
• 27th District.  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R).  Chicken Little, apparently, is one of her favorite folk tales.

Georgia's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Jack Kingston (R).  Ask him about climate change, and he'll give you his troglodyte views on evolution.
• 3rd District.  Lynn Westmoreland (R).  One of the Republicans who threw a hissy fit when the Defense Department announced its climate change initiative. 
• 6th District, Tom Price (R).  During 2009 floor debate on a climate-change bill, he asked colleagues for a moment of silence for lost jobs. 
• 7th District.  Rob Woodall (R).  Like his colleague Lynn Westmoreland, Rob believes that climate change discussions should be, at best, marginalized, not expanded. 
• 8th District.  Austin Scott (R).   "Absolutely" skeptical when it comes to climate change.
• 9th District.  Doug Collins (R).   Ranked by National Journal as the most conservative member of the state's House delegation (90.2% rating, 16th overall).  
• 10th District.  Paul Broun (R).  Believes that climate change is one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated by the scientific community.  Got his butt kicked in the 2014 Georgia Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
• 11th District.  Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R).  Surgical masks for every cow.
• 14th District.  Tom Graves (R).  Has a facility for stringing cliches together. 

 Idaho's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Raul Labrador (R).    According to this list, one of the scariest.
• 2nd District.  Mike Simpson (R).  Tries to come across as reasonable, but his words are contradicted by his 7% lifetime score from the League of Conservative Voters. (Lifetime = 9 terms, 18 years.)    

 Illinois' Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 6th District.  Peter Roskam (R).  Once referred to climate change as "junk science". 
• 13th District.  Rodney Davis (R).   Content to spout the company line.
• 14th District.  Randy Hultgren (R).  Asserted in 2009 that "we're headed in to a bit of a colder time." 
• 15th District.  John Shimkus (R).   "The B-I-B-L-E/yes, that's the book for me/I stand alone on the word of God/the B-I-B-L-E!!"
• 16th District.  Adam Kinzinger (R).  Gives  new meaning to "all-inclusive".  
• 18th District.  Aaron Schock (R).  When it comes to support of environmental issues, he's all talk and no action.

 Indiana's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 2nd District.  Jackie Walorski (R).   “That’s My Congress” notes Rep. Walorski has followed a conservative course when voting on environmental legislation -- and everything else, for that matter.   Earned a 0% rating from the League of Conservation Voters after her first year in the House.
• 3rd District.  Martin Stutzman (R).  Signed Americans for Prosperity’s “No Climate Tax Pledge” a month before being sworn in as a member of Congress in 2010. 
• 4th District.  Todd Rokita (R).  This climate change denier respects "God's green earth".  Anyone who thinks otherwise is arrogant.
• 5th District.  Susan Brooks (R).  The Walorski summary fits Brooks to a T. 
• 6th District.  Luke Messer (R).   Considers climate change a social issue.
• 8th District.  Larry Bucshon M.D. (R).  Climatologists are only in it for the money.   
• 9th District.  Todd Young (R).   Describes himself as a climate agnostic.

No Friend to the Environment: Republican Representative Larry Bucshon, M.D., Indiana's 8th Congressional District

  Photo source:  U.S. Congress

Text source:  Think Progress

Bucshon was re-elected to a 3rd term with 60% of the vote.   He serves on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Recommended reading/viewing for Rep. Bucshon and his southwestern Indiana constituents.

'The Daily Show' skewers Rep. Larry Bucshon on climate change.  (Indianapolis Star, 9/23/2014)

No Friend to the Environment dishonor roll.

Alabama Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives.   (Their anti-environmentalism can be summed up in one word:  coal.  Which is odd, since Alabama contributes a mere 1.9% of U.S. production, good enough for an overall ranking of 13.  The state's peak year of production:  1990)  

• 1st District.  Bradley Byrne (R).  Proposed an amendment that would have cut all FY 2015 funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 
• 2nd District.  Martha Roby (R).   Voted YES on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling and barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. Signed the No Climate Tax Pledge by Americans for Prosperity.
• 3rd District.  Mike Rogers (R).   League of Conservation scorecard: 2013: 0%.  Lifetime (2003-): 9%. 
• 4th District.  Robert Aderholt (R).  Without bothering to fact-check, he uses a discredited petition rejecting climate change to make a point. 
• 5th District.  Mo Brooke (R).  Climate Experts Testify that Climate Change Projections are Unreliable and Misleading.
• 6th District.  Stephen Baucus (R).   League of Conservation scorecard: 2013: 0% Lifetime (1993- ): 8%

Alaska Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• At-large District.  Don Young (R).   Ridiculed environmentalists as a “self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots.....not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.” 

 Arizona Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 4th District.  Paul Gosar (R).   Takes his environmental cues from cattle and sheep producers.
• 5th District.  Matt Salmon (R).   This quote sums up his view:  “I found the source of global warming is coming from the hot air coming out of Washington.”  Signed Koch Brothers "No Climate Tax" pledge. 
• 6th District.  David Schweikert (R).  Known to throw a hissy over "the Al Gores of the world".  Chairs House Subcommittee on Environment. 
• 8th District.  Trent Franks (R).   League of Conservation scorecard:2013: 11%.  Lifetime (since 2003): 5%. 

Arkansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Rick Crawford (R).   Vow to his constituents:  "As long as the Obama EPA continues its assault on farmers, I will continue to fight senseless regulations that only serve to cripple American agriculture." 
• 2nd District.  Tim Griffin (R).  Perhaps one of the few scientists in the Republican House caucus.  As far as global warming is concerned, he claims "that there are a lot of shenanigans going on with the data."   
• 3rd District.  Steve Womack (R).   Loves his fossil fuels.
• 4th District.  Tom Cotton (R).  Claims the earth's temperature hasn't warmed in 16 years, a climate denier meme.  The reality:  9 of the 10 warmest years on record occurred since 1998.

California Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Doug LaMalfa (R).  Ask him about air conditioners, packing plants, or praying for rain.
• 4th District.  Tom McClintock (R).  Still smarting that he never received a Nobel Prize in the 3rd grade. 
• 8th District.  Paul Cook (R).   ALEC shill for the Keystone pipeline. 
• 10th District.  Jeff Denham (R).  Appears to think that climate skeptics are on "the right side of the issue."  
• 21st District.  David Valadao (R).  Represents a portion of California's Central Valley, a hotbed of climate skepticism, as the representative's League of Conservation Voters scorecard indicates. 
• 22nd District.  Devin Nunes (R).   Throws hissy fit, a Republican specialty, over what he calls Obama's extremist climate agenda.
• 23rd District.  Kevin McCarthy (R).   Bemoans those dang "harmful regulations".
• 25th District.  Buck McKeon (R).  7% lifetime score on League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard after 24 years in House.
• 31st District.  Gary Miller (R).   3% lifetime score on League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard after 14 years in House.
• 39th District.  Ed Royce (R).  A liberal among the California Republican caucus:  a 13% lifetime score on the League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard. 
• 42nd District.  Ken Calvert (R).  Although comfortably ensconced in the Republican environmental mainstream, he's not above making an heretical remark or two.
• 45th District.  John Campbell (R).  Signer of Americans for Prosperity "No Climate Tax Pledge"; 9% lifetime score from the League of Conservative Voters, 
• 48th District.  Dana Rohrabacher (R).  Mouths the same climate denier meme as the newly elected U.S. Senator from Arkansas.
• 49th District.  Darrell Issa (R).  The richest member of Congress, he recently won the League of Conservation Voters "Climate Denier Award". 
• 50th District.  Duncan Hunter (R).  Can you top this?  "Thousands of people die every year of cold, so if we had global warming it would save lives." 

Colorado Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 3rd District.  Scott Tipton (R).  Tree rings tell us all we need to know.
• 4th District.  Cory Gardner (R).  Another beneficiary of the 2010 Tea Party wave.  And he adjusted his views accordingly.
• 5th District.  Doug Lamborn (R).  Works tirelessly to assure that climate change remains "an extremely controversial topic".   (Is also a big fan of impeaching Obama.)  
• 6th District.  Mike Coffman (R).   Solidly parks his butt in the the-science-is-not-quite-settled camp. 

No House Republicans hail from Connecticut and Delaware. 
Florida Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Jeff Miller (R).  "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones.  They're the modern Stone Age fam-a-lee."
• 2nd District.  Steve Southerland (R).  Spouts the company line.
• 3rd District.  Ted Yoho (R).  "I'm not smart enough for that."
• 4th District.  Ander Crenshaw (R).  All talk, no action.
• 6th District.  Ron DeSantis (R).  As reported by ThinkProgress, a majority of Congressional Republicans are climate deniers.  At this point in the exercise, we appear to have unanimity.
• 7th District.  John Mica (R).   7% lifetime score from League of Conservation Voters after 22 years in the House.
• 8th District.  Bill Posey (R). Sez climate change has been with us since the Earth was formed.  (Pick your date.)
• 10th District.  Daniel Webster (R).  9% score from League of Conservation Voters during his 2 terms in office.
• 11th District.  Richard Nugent (R).   6% score from League of Conservation Voters during his 2 terms in office.
• 12th District.  Gus Bilirakis (R).  Big fan of fossil fuels. 
• 13th District.  David Jolly (R).  Happy to drift along with the fossil-fuel flow. 
• 15th District.  Dennis Ross (R)  It's all about personal responsibility. 
• 16th District.  Vern Buchanan (R).  Proud to represent his rich waterfront property owners. 
• 17th District.  Tom Rooney (R).   One of 48 Republican House members with a 0% score from the National League of Conservation Voters in 2013.
• 19th District.  Curt Clawson (R).  Suggests that climate change "may not exist".
• 25th District.  Mario Diaz-Balart (R).  Not ready to jump on the global warming bandwagon. 
• 27th District.  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R).  Chicken Little, apparently, is one of her favorite folk tales.

Georgia's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Jack Kingston (R).  Ask him about climate change, and he'll give you his troglodyte views on evolution.
• 3rd District.  Lynn Westmoreland (R).  One of the Republicans who threw a hissy fit when the Defense Department announced its climate change initiative. 
• 6th District, Tom Price (R).  During 2009 floor debate on a climate-change bill, he asked colleagues for a moment of silence for lost jobs. 
• 7th District.  Rob Woodall (R).  Like his colleague Lynn Westmoreland, Rob believes that climate change discussions should be, at best, marginalized, not expanded. 
• 8th District.  Austin Scott (R).   "Absolutely" skeptical when it comes to climate change.
• 9th District.  Doug Collins (R).   Ranked by National Journal as the most conservative member of the state's House delegation (90.2% rating, 16th overall).  
• 10th District.  Paul Broun (R).  Believes that climate change is one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated by the scientific community.  Got his butt kicked in the 2014 Georgia Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
• 11th District.  Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R).  Surgical masks for every cow.
• 14th District.  Tom Graves (R).  Has a facility for stringing cliches together. 

 Idaho's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Raul Labrador (R).    According to this list, one of the scariest.
• 2nd District.  Mike Simpson (R).  Tries to come across as reasonable, but his words are contradicted by his 7% lifetime score from the League of Conservative Voters. (Lifetime = 9 terms, 18 years.)    

 Illinois' Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 6th District.  Peter Roskam (R).  Once referred to climate change as "junk science". 
• 13th District.  Rodney Davis (R).   Content to spout the company line.
• 14th District.  Randy Hultgren (R).  Asserted in 2009 that "we're headed in to a bit of a colder time." 
• 15th District.  John Shimkus (R).   "The B-I-B-L-E/yes, that's the book for me/I stand alone on the word of God/the B-I-B-L-E!!"
• 16th District.  Adam Kinzinger (R).  Gives  new meaning to "all-inclusive".  
• 18th District.  Aaron Schock (R).  When it comes to support of environmental issues, he's all talk and no action.

 Indiana's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 2nd District.  Jackie Walorski (R).   “That’s My Congress” notes Rep. Walorski has followed a conservative course when voting on environmental legislation -- and everything else, for that matter.   Earned a 0% rating from the League of Conservation Voters after her first year in the House.
• 3rd District.  Martin Stutzman (R).  Signed Americans for Prosperity’s “No Climate Tax Pledge” a month before being sworn in as a member of Congress in 2010. 
• 4th District.  Todd Rokita (R).  This climate change denier respects "God's green earth".  Anyone who thinks otherwise is arrogant.
• 5th District.  Susan Brooks (R).  The Walorski summary fits Brooks to a T. 
• 6th District.  Luke Messer (R).   Considers climate change a social issue.
• 8th District.  Larry Bucshon M.D. (R).  Climatologists are only in it for the money.  

No Friend to the Environment: Republican Representative Luke Messer, Indiana's 6th Congressional District

  Photo source:  U.S. Congress

Text source:  U.S. Congressman Luke Messer

Messer was re-elected to a 2nd term with 66% of the vote.   He serves on no environmental committees.

Recommended reading for Rep. Messer and his southeastern Indiana constituents.

Climate change warming Kentucky, Indiana, report says.  (Louisville Courier-Journal, 5/7/2014)
 

No Friend to the Environment dishonor roll.

Alabama Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives.   (Their anti-environmentalism can be summed up in one word:  coal.  Which is odd, since Alabama contributes a mere 1.9% of U.S. production, good enough for an overall ranking of 13.  The state's peak year of production:  1990)  

• 1st District.  Bradley Byrne (R).  Proposed an amendment that would have cut all FY 2015 funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 
• 2nd District.  Martha Roby (R).   Voted YES on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling and barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. Signed the No Climate Tax Pledge by Americans for Prosperity.
• 3rd District.  Mike Rogers (R).   League of Conservation scorecard: 2013: 0%.  Lifetime (2003-): 9%. 
• 4th District.  Robert Aderholt (R).  Without bothering to fact-check, he uses a discredited petition rejecting climate change to make a point. 
• 5th District.  Mo Brooke (R).  Climate Experts Testify that Climate Change Projections are Unreliable and Misleading.
• 6th District.  Stephen Baucus (R).   League of Conservation scorecard: 2013: 0% Lifetime (1993- ): 8%

Alaska Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• At-large District.  Don Young (R).   Ridiculed environmentalists as a “self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots.....not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.” 

 Arizona Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 4th District.  Paul Gosar (R).   Takes his environmental cues from cattle and sheep producers.
• 5th District.  Matt Salmon (R).   This quote sums up his view:  “I found the source of global warming is coming from the hot air coming out of Washington.”  Signed Koch Brothers "No Climate Tax" pledge. 
• 6th District.  David Schweikert (R).  Known to throw a hissy over "the Al Gores of the world".  Chairs House Subcommittee on Environment. 
• 8th District.  Trent Franks (R).   League of Conservation scorecard:2013: 11%.  Lifetime (since 2003): 5%. 

Arkansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Rick Crawford (R).   Vow to his constituents:  "As long as the Obama EPA continues its assault on farmers, I will continue to fight senseless regulations that only serve to cripple American agriculture." 
• 2nd District.  Tim Griffin (R).  Perhaps one of the few scientists in the Republican House caucus.  As far as global warming is concerned, he claims "that there are a lot of shenanigans going on with the data."   
• 3rd District.  Steve Womack (R).   Loves his fossil fuels.
• 4th District.  Tom Cotton (R).  Claims the earth's temperature hasn't warmed in 16 years, a climate denier meme.  The reality:  9 of the 10 warmest years on record occurred since 1998.

California Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Doug LaMalfa (R).  Ask him about air conditioners, packing plants, or praying for rain.
• 4th District.  Tom McClintock (R).  Still smarting that he never received a Nobel Prize in the 3rd grade. 
• 8th District.  Paul Cook (R).   ALEC shill for the Keystone pipeline. 
• 10th District.  Jeff Denham (R).  Appears to think that climate skeptics are on "the right side of the issue."  
• 21st District.  David Valadao (R).  Represents a portion of California's Central Valley, a hotbed of climate skepticism, as the representative's League of Conservation Voters scorecard indicates. 
• 22nd District.  Devin Nunes (R).   Throws hissy fit, a Republican specialty, over what he calls Obama's extremist climate agenda.
• 23rd District.  Kevin McCarthy (R).   Bemoans those dang "harmful regulations".
• 25th District.  Buck McKeon (R).  7% lifetime score on League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard after 24 years in House.
• 31st District.  Gary Miller (R).   3% lifetime score on League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard after 14 years in House.
• 39th District.  Ed Royce (R).  A liberal among the California Republican caucus:  a 13% lifetime score on the League of Conservation Voters' National Environment Scorecard. 
• 42nd District.  Ken Calvert (R).  Although comfortably ensconced in the Republican environmental mainstream, he's not above making an heretical remark or two.
• 45th District.  John Campbell (R).  Signer of Americans for Prosperity "No Climate Tax Pledge"; 9% lifetime score from the League of Conservative Voters, 
• 48th District.  Dana Rohrabacher (R).  Mouths the same climate denier meme as the newly elected U.S. Senator from Arkansas.
• 49th District.  Darrell Issa (R).  The richest member of Congress, he recently won the League of Conservation Voters "Climate Denier Award". 
• 50th District.  Duncan Hunter (R).  Can you top this?  "Thousands of people die every year of cold, so if we had global warming it would save lives." 

Colorado Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 3rd District.  Scott Tipton (R).  Tree rings tell us all we need to know.
• 4th District.  Cory Gardner (R).  Another beneficiary of the 2010 Tea Party wave.  And he adjusted his views accordingly.
• 5th District.  Doug Lamborn (R).  Works tirelessly to assure that climate change remains "an extremely controversial topic".   (Is also a big fan of impeaching Obama.)  
• 6th District.  Mike Coffman (R).   Solidly parks his butt in the the-science-is-not-quite-settled camp. 

No House Republicans hail from Connecticut and Delaware. 
Florida Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Jeff Miller (R).  "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones.  They're the modern Stone Age fam-a-lee."
• 2nd District.  Steve Southerland (R).  Spouts the company line.
• 3rd District.  Ted Yoho (R).  "I'm not smart enough for that."
• 4th District.  Ander Crenshaw (R).  All talk, no action.
• 6th District.  Ron DeSantis (R).  As reported by ThinkProgress, a majority of Congressional Republicans are climate deniers.  At this point in the exercise, we appear to have unanimity.
• 7th District.  John Mica (R).   7% lifetime score from League of Conservation Voters after 22 years in the House.
• 8th District.  Bill Posey (R). Sez climate change has been with us since the Earth was formed.  (Pick your date.)
• 10th District.  Daniel Webster (R).  9% score from League of Conservation Voters during his 2 terms in office.
• 11th District.  Richard Nugent (R).   6% score from League of Conservation Voters during his 2 terms in office.
• 12th District.  Gus Bilirakis (R).  Big fan of fossil fuels. 
• 13th District.  David Jolly (R).  Happy to drift along with the fossil-fuel flow. 
• 15th District.  Dennis Ross (R)  It's all about personal responsibility. 
• 16th District.  Vern Buchanan (R).  Proud to represent his rich waterfront property owners. 
• 17th District.  Tom Rooney (R).   One of 48 Republican House members with a 0% score from the National League of Conservation Voters in 2013.
• 19th District.  Curt Clawson (R).  Suggests that climate change "may not exist".
• 25th District.  Mario Diaz-Balart (R).  Not ready to jump on the global warming bandwagon. 
• 27th District.  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R).  Chicken Little, apparently, is one of her favorite folk tales.

Georgia's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Jack Kingston (R).  Ask him about climate change, and he'll give you his troglodyte views on evolution.
• 3rd District.  Lynn Westmoreland (R).  One of the Republicans who threw a hissy fit when the Defense Department announced its climate change initiative. 
• 6th District, Tom Price (R).  During 2009 floor debate on a climate-change bill, he asked colleagues for a moment of silence for lost jobs. 
• 7th District.  Rob Woodall (R).  Like his colleague Lynn Westmoreland, Rob believes that climate change discussions should be, at best, marginalized, not expanded. 
• 8th District.  Austin Scott (R).   "Absolutely" skeptical when it comes to climate change.
• 9th District.  Doug Collins (R).   Ranked by National Journal as the most conservative member of the state's House delegation (90.2% rating, 16th overall).  
• 10th District.  Paul Broun (R).  Believes that climate change is one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated by the scientific community.  Got his butt kicked in the 2014 Georgia Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
• 11th District.  Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R).  Surgical masks for every cow.
• 14th District.  Tom Graves (R).  Has a facility for stringing cliches together. 

 Idaho's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 1st District.  Raul Labrador (R).    According to this list, one of the scariest.
• 2nd District.  Mike Simpson (R).  Tries to come across as reasonable, but his words are contradicted by his 7% lifetime score from the League of Conservative Voters. (Lifetime = 9 terms, 18 years.)    

 Illinois' Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 6th District.  Peter Roskam (R).  Once referred to climate change as "junk science". 
• 13th District.  Rodney Davis (R).   Content to spout the company line.
• 14th District.  Randy Hultgren (R).  Asserted in 2009 that "we're headed in to a bit of a colder time." 
• 15th District.  John Shimkus (R).   "The B-I-B-L-E/yes, that's the book for me/I stand alone on the word of God/the B-I-B-L-E!!"
• 16th District.  Adam Kinzinger (R).  Gives  new meaning to "all-inclusive".  
• 18th District.  Aaron Schock (R).  When it comes to support of environmental issues, he's all talk and no action.

 Indiana's Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives

• 2nd District.  Jackie Walorski (R).   “That’s My Congress” notes Rep. Walorski has followed a conservative course when voting on environmental legislation -- and everything else, for that matter.   Earned a 0% rating from the League of Conservation Voters after her first year in the House.
• 3rd District.  Martin Stutzman (R).  Signed Americans for Prosperity’s “No Climate Tax Pledge” a month before being sworn in as a member of Congress in 2010. 
• 4th District.  Todd Rokita (R).  This climate change denier respects "God's green earth".  Anyone who thinks otherwise is arrogant.
• 5th District.  Susan Brooks (R).  The Walorski summary fits Brooks to a T. 
• 6th District.  Luke Messer (R).   Considers climate change a social issue.