Representative Norm Dicks has announced that he is retiring. Rep. Dicks represents the 6th district in Washington State and is the current ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and has a strong history of standing up for wildlife and the environment.

Some of the issues he has stood up for over the years:

Salmon in the Pacific Northwest

A salmon returning to spawn. Photo by: Bryn Fluharty

Keystone XL
In the past year the National Wildlife Federation along with many other environmental organizations and politicians have fought against the dangerous Keystone XL pipeline. This pipeline would bring oil from the tar sands fields in Alberta, Canada across 2,000 miles of US land to the Gulf Coast.Rep Dicks recognized the threats posed by the pipeline and voted against it. This vote stood up for wildlife and the environment.

Floodplains

A healthy floodplain along the Green River in WA. Photo by: Bryn Fluharty

Gulf Coast Restoration
Rep. Dicks has supported funding for the restoration of the Gulf Coast. In 2011 Rep. Dicks voted to boost funding for the coastal Louisiana restoration projects by $1 million. This funding would have provided additional funds for the restoration of wetlands, fish and wildlife in the Gulf Coast region. While in the end these funds were not included in the omnibus appropriations bill, H.R.2055 we applaud the Rep. Dicks for voting in support of this amendment.

The National Wildlife Federation is sad to see Rep. Dicks retire but is grateful for all of his hard work to help protect our nation’s wildlife and wild places and hope to see our state representatives continue his strong and dedicated legacy.

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard, Deepwater Horizon response.

As we near the two year anniversary of BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion, the worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history, one has to wonder if BP has learned a thing from that incident. Our Federal Government has yet to fully hold BP accountable as Gulf state residents desperately try to get a vote on the RESTORE Act which would dedicate the BP oil spill penalties to restore the Gulf Coast communities, environment and economy—where the damage from the BP oil spill was done—rather than simply being deposited into the Federal Treasury. After eleven workers lost their lives in the Deepwater incident BP made lofty promises to implement even more stringent safety requirements than mandated by federal regulations to prevent future disasters. After almost two years without accountability, yet another explosion at BP’s Cherry Point refinery in Washington State prove these promises ring hollow.

As fire crews continue their attempt to fully contain the fire from the explosion at BP’s Cherry Point refinery, comments from BP spokesman Scott Dean indicate where Big Oil’s priorities lie.

“The refinery continues to produce products for customers, and it is too soon to speculate on future supply impacts.”

With over 100 workers evacuated watching the fireball from the parking lot, amazingly BP did not even halt the refining process.

Local news station King5 photo.

Even more alarming, this same BP refinery was fined 13 different times in 2010 for serious safety violations.

So what exorbitant penalty was BP forced to pay for to teach them a lesson for continually putting workers safety at risk? They were fined $69,000. Plain and simple- 23 million dollars per day is worth more than $69,000. Unless this dynamic changes, unless Congress steps up and holds Big Oil accountable for their transgressions, companies like BP will make their billions as Washington State burns, the Gulf suffers and workers lives are put at risk.

Tell Congress to Hold BP accountable!