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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Obama's Environmental Pick Is Tight With the Enemy

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(Newser) – President Obama's pick to run the Justice Department's environmental unit has an impressive resume when it comes to lawsuits against giant polluters. Trouble is, say her critics, all that experience has come from working with the bad guys. Ignacia Moreno, currently an attorney for GE, has spent years defending the nation's biggest corporations in Superfund cases. Several EPA lawyers tell ProPublica that any attorney with her background has no business trying to reverse course and police polluters.

GE, for instance, has been linked to 116 Superfund sites, second most in the nation. Its attorneys are expert at playing the environmental legal system, which Moreno's supporters say would actually make her a stronger government enforcer. Moreno said in a Senate questionnaire that she would recuse herself from any GE case for two years. Her confirmation hearings begin in a few weeks.

The GE logo.
The GE logo.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)
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She has been one of the big players in defending large corporations against Superfund lawsuits. She is going to have to change her focus 180 degrees, but there is no reason to believe she is not capable of doing that. - Brian Leinbach, who faced Moreno in court

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13 comments
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Reader64481089
Jul 7, 09 9:08 PM CDT
"Obama's Environmental Pick Is Tight With the Enemy"...And how would you describe Dick Cheney's relationship with Haliburton? Just asking, seriously... Reply
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+4
IN RESPONSE:
Amber
Jul 7, 09 9:09 PM CDT
Very good point, they all are tight with one or another. Big Biz takes care of it's own, business as usual.
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+5
JonmarkP
Jul 7, 09 10:02 PM CDT
All of Obama's cabinet picks seem to be "tight with the enemy." If fact, they ARE the enemy. So far, he's done zip but supervise a further looting of the treasury by corporate greed. He starts every "negotiation" by giving up or giving in. God damn him, he's just another corporate whore. Reply
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0
IN RESPONSE:
Sabrina
Jul 7, 09 10:41 PM CDT
Well nobody held Cheney accountable about the no bid contracts and who knows just how much more, so what was good for the Republicans should work just fine for Democrats. There is a company named Northrop Grumman (spelling is probably incorrect but it sounds similar) but anyway, this company was awarded SEVERAL LARGE contracts during those days, one for the security of the Post Office right after the Anthrax crap. Not one envelope has had Anthrax in years since that one guy died and yet each month this large company is paid huge to provide equipment that "sniffs out anthrax" at a cost of millions per year and the equipment has NEVER successfully found Anthrax till this very day and to make matters worse? There are hundreds of such contracts still floating from Bush Cheney.
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+5
IN RESPONSE:
BOMBS_OVER_BAGHDAD
Jul 7, 09 11:07 PM CDT
Do you honestly think that if, an envelope here and an envelope there WERE found with Anthrax, would get reported to the press? I highly doubt it. It falls under the same guidelines as all of foiled terrorist plots that are not brought to the publics eye. It would create fear, fear creates panic, and panic creates riots.
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+1

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