O'Malley won't stand up against big business or factory farms
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is delivering a keynote address at the 2014 Iowa Democratic Party's state convention today as part of his national tour as he tests the presidential waters. "Better choices. Better results" is his slogan.
But those of us who have followed O'Malley's record know that it's really "same choices, same results" from a man who consistently placed the interests of big corporations over Maryland citizens during his two terms.
O'Malley styles himself as a progressive and an environmental advocate for a healthy Chesapeake Bay. But he has spent his political career refusing to hold big agribusiness accountable while kicking the can on big-decision issues like fracking.
O'Malley has failed to save the Chesapeake Bay from the factory farm poultry industry, the largest source of nutrient pollution in the state.
In 2011, the governor publicly denounced a lawsuit brought by the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic for pollution pouring off one of Perdue Farms' contract operations. He called on clinic students to represent polluters instead of nonprofit defenders of the Bay.
It was a move longtime Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat, called "ill-advised."
In 2012, Food & Water Watch obtained emails showing a close, personal relationship between O'Malley and Perdue lobbyist and former law school classmate Herb Frerichs.
On the day O'Malley attacked the law clinic, Frerichs sent a note to O'Malley that simply said, "Very nice." In a later email, after Frerichs complained that Maryland Agriculture Secretary Earl "Buddy" Hance was not being responsive to Perdue's needs, O'Malley responded, "I'm guessing you don't have the personal email of governors of DE or VA, so let me know when Buddy can/should be doing more to help you push stuff. I'm serious. I'll have him call you Monday."
O'Malley also emailed Jim Perdue, promising him that as long as he was governor, he would never hold the company liable for the pollution it caused to the Chesapeake Bay.
It was no surprise that when O'Malley became the head of the Democratic Governors Association, poultry giant Perdue shifted its financial support from the Republican Governors Association to the Democratic Governors Association.
Just this past legislative session in Maryland, O'Malley promised to veto the proposed Poultry Fair Share Act that would have made poultry companies like Perdue pay a nominal amount into the Bay Restoration Fund — something every middle and working class household in the state has to do.
His announcement days after the bill was introduced quashed any debate. That prompted the Baltimore Sun to lament, "The day lawmakers can't even explore how to help the Chesapeake Bay is the day we know all hope for cleanup efforts is truly lost."
O'Malley has not been any better on fracking. As the oil and gas industry identified shale deposits in Maryland, the governor told Maryland residents that he wouldn't approve fracking in the state until studies proved that it was safe. In reality, he was already laying the groundwork for opening Maryland up to the dangers associated with fracking.
He quickly created the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, appointed its members, including a person who drafted the fracking regulations in Pennsylvania, and asked them to develop a draft report on fracking. O'Malley allowed the drafting of fracking regulations to begin even before reviewing the results of the promised fracking impact studies.
O'Malley's ties to the fracking industry can be traced to his latest "pro-growth progressive" venture, NewDEAL, a "dark money" political organization he co-founded in 2011 to bring corporate money to the Democratic Party. Among NewDEAL's big corporate funders O'Malley has been courting is the American Natural Gas Association.
When he takes to the podium today, it's important for Iowans to know the real Martin O'Malley and decide if he's a better choice and a better result, or simply big business as usual.
THE AUTHORS:
MATT OHLOFF, is the Iowa organizer for the advocacy group Food & Water Watch. Contact: mohloff@fwwatch.org.
ADAM MASON is state policy director for the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund. Contact: adam@iowacci.org.