And member John Watkins doesn't hesitate to admit that the Subcommittee is biased toward mining. Isn't this what SCC has been saying all along? More and more VUI is having to backtrack and admit that SCC's "hysterical rantings" are true. Don'cha just love keepin' it real?
From The Register & Bee
By John Crane
Published: January 10, 2009
Two members of a state subcommittee charged with determining the scope of a uranium-mining study have accepted campaign donations from Virginia Uranium Inc. within the last year.
VUI gave $2,000 and $1,000 respectively to state Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, and Sen. John Watkins, R-Midlothian, in early June, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. The company gave out a total of $30,800 to various campaigns and political organizations in 2008, including $4,500 to the Democratic Party’s Commonwealth Victory Fund and $4,000 to the Republican Party’s Virginia House Campaign Committee.
VUI seeks to mine and mill a uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, six miles northeast of Chatham.
Wagner and Watkins serve on the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee. The 10-member body, appointed in November, is tasked with deciding what questions will be asked and answered in a state study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the state. A ban on the practice has been in effect in the commonwealth since the early 1980s.
Watkins said he has no qualms about accepting the money at a golf tournament fundraiser last spring, and says the contribution will not influence him as a subcommittee member.
“It will not affect my vote one way or the other,” Watkins said Thursday.
Attempts to contact Wagner, including phone messages and an e-mail, were unsuccessful Thursday.
Ethical donations?
Robert Denton Jr., professor of political communication at Virginia Tech, calls statements by politicians that donations don’t influence their votes a “cop-out,” and says ethical questions are legitimate.
“They got the money because they’re already leaning in their (donors’) favor,” Denton said.
There’s a distinction between what’s legal and what’s ethical, he said. The recipients’ duty is to represent the public and they need to reassure people they’re “not in the pocket of the uranium company,” Denton said.
Even if the donations don’t compromise votes, “it just continues to feed this view that we can’t trust elected officials,” he said.
VUI geologist and spokes-man Patrick Wales said the company makes no apologies for the contributions. The practice of campaign donations in Virginia are well regulated, which should temper concerns about undue influence, he said.
No one complained about political donations when a Senate bill proposing the study was killed in a House committee in March, Wales said.
VUI’s campaign donations are miniscule compared to those from environmental groups, he said. The Virginia League of Conservation Voters gave more than $200,000 to candidates and about $37,000 in lobbyist fees in 2007-2008, he said. The Piedmont Environmental Council paid about $33,000 to lobbyists in 2007-2008, Wales added.
‘Not going to give it back’
Eloise Nenon, a member of Southside Concerned Citizens, which opposes VUI’s plans, said she is not surprised by the donations to Wagner, who co-sponsored a bill last year proposing the study. Nenon expressed indignation at the absence of Southside representatives on the commission and the subcommittee.
“I think this is inexcusable,” Nenon said. “That’s not fair … that we don’t matter.”
Nenon said she had no comment regarding the donations to Watkins.
Watkins said it is standard practice for individuals, corporations, firms and organizations to give money to campaigns. Virginia has one of the most transparent campaign donor systems in the country, he said. Watkins said he also has received money from environmental groups and has no intention of returning VUI’s money since becoming a subcommittee member.
“I’m not going to give it back,” he said. “Why should I?”
Watkins said he works on 1,600 bills a year and can’t go back and research before every vote who donated money to his campaign. Also, the National Academy of Sciences will perform the study, not the subcommittee, he said. The commission and subcommittee have no authority to lift the ban on uranium mining.
Watkins doesn’t deny allegations from mining opponents that the subcommittee is pro-mining.
“We’re part of the Coal and Energy Commission, I mean come on,” Watkins said. He added that he wasn’t speaking for all the subcommittee members, noting some may be less pro-mining than others.
“That doesn’t mean we’re against protecting the environment,” Watkins said, adding mining is a necessary industrial activity.
The U.S. consumes a lot of energy and can’t depend on other countries to provide its energy needs, he said.
Another thought
Bob Holsworth, an independent political analyst who operates the political Web site VirginiaTomorrow.com, says VUI’s donations to the subcommittee members are not unusual and are no different than those given from an electricity company, such as Dominion Power, to politicians. The representatives accepting donations are not ethically suspect, Holsworth said.
Virginia law requires public disclosure of campaign contributions, including on sites like VPAP, he said.
Representatives participating in unethical activities can be held accountable in elections, Holsworth said.
“I don’t think there is anything that would disqualify these individuals simply because they received … campaign contributions,” he said.
Issues surrounding the donations are amplified because the uranium mining proposal is a high-profile emotional case, Holsworth said.
• Staff writer Sarah Arkin contributed to this report.
• Contact John R. Crane at jcrane@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7987.
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