Rogers proves he doesn't mind lying to the 8th Congressional District

For Immediate Release:
16 February 2012
Contact: Lance Enderle
517 285-3376

Rogers proves he doesn't mind lying to the 8th Congressional District

Rogers votes with other House Republicans to allow oil drilling in the Great Lakes, after saying he was "firmly opposed" to such in October, 2010

Lance Enderle
U.S. Congressional
Candidate for
Michigan, District 8

LANSING -- Democratic candidate nominee for the 8th Congressional District Lance Enderle slammed Republican Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) Wednesday for joining with other Michigan Congressional Republicans and approving a measure to allow drilling for oil in the Great Lakes.

"I've said it from the beginning, Mike is a liar. He has no problem telling the people of the district one thing, but then voting to help his corporate cronies," Enderle said. "Here we have a clear, blatant example of Mike's lies. In October of 2010 he told the Argus Press that he was 'firmly opposed' to drilling in the lakes, and touted his alleged legislation to prevent such drilling. Today shows Mike is not 'firmly opposed,' only that he hadn't met the right corporate crony with the offer to soften his resolve."

Roger's own website re-published the entire article written by Christopher Behnan. The relevant part of the article follows:

"Enderle said Rogers was the only U.S. House or Senate member from Michigan who voted in favor of a measure to engage in oil-and-gas exploration in the United States.

He said Rogers has been lax on protection of the Great Lakes.

Rogers said he firmly opposes oil drilling in the Great Lakes and has voted in Congress to ban all drilling in the five lakes. He said he's sponsored legislation to ban new drilling permits and led bipartisan efforts to clean up toxic pollutants and fight invasive species in the lakes."

Adding to the insult, Enderle said, another Michigan community was struggling to identify and address a new pipeline oil spill. This spill occurred in Sterling, Michigan and resulted in a shut down of Enbridge Energy Partners Pipeline 5, which traverses much of the state's northern tier, as well as the upper peninsula, crossing into the lower peninsula under the straits of Mackinac. Enbridge owns Lakehead Pipeline 6B which had a catastrophic failure in July of 2010, spewing an estimated 1.1 million gallons of toxic tar sands oil into the Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River. Up to 35 miles of the river and pristine natural areas were contaminated, and the company continues to work on cleaning up the spill.
The Great Lakes are not just a beautiful and important tourism attraction for Michigan.

30 Million People Depend on the Great Lakes. “More than 30 million people depend on the Great Lakes for their drinking water, and millions more benefit from the commerce and business that depends on the waters of the Great Lakes.” [Healthy Lakes, Accessed 2/15/12]

1.5 Million Jobs from the Great Lakes. “The Great Lakes provide 1.5 million jobs in the U.S., and $62 billion in wages every year, according to a study by Michigan Sea Grant at the University of Michigan. The study said Michigan has the most jobs related to the Great Lakes, with 525,886. Others are Illinois (380,786), Ohio (178,621), Wisconsin (173,969), New York (157,547), Indiana (54,397), Pennsylvania (25,479) and Minnesota (11,877).” [The Grand Rapids Press, 2/24/11]

"Mike is appalling. He needs to return what ever blood money he received for this vote, and apologizes to the state and his constituents." says Enderle. "Mike has shown today that he is nothing more than a bought and paid for crony of corporate interests and the Republican party. He has neither the interest or the desire to solve Michigan's problems. It is time for Mike to go -- voluntarily with a resignation today, or in November with an election ouster."