Thanks to recent financial disclosures, Michigan Congressman and Senate candidate Gary Peters has been caught playing every side of the energy debate in ways that benefit his campaign coffers, as well as his own pocket.
From here, it only gets worse for Peters. He may as well simply hang a “For Sale” sign around his neck and be done with it. There’s some history below that makes this even worse for Peters.
Gary Peters has been a vocal critic of oil companies while continually blocking the expansion of drilling throughout his political career, including ANWR. In addition, his campaign has made environmental issues a top focus of the Michigan Senate race this year.
With this in mind, Peters’ financial disclosure paints a different picture as reports indicate he has a large investment in the French oil company, Total S.A. France. According to their website, they are the fifth largest publicly-traded integrated international oil and gas company in the world. Peters’ connection to a large French oil company raises some eyebrows considering his staunch stance as a defender of environmental interests here in the United States.
Total S.A. France holds interests in 21 refineries around the world, including the United States, Europe, the French West Indies, Africa, the Middle East, and China.
Flashback to May and a “secret meeting” with “Democrat money man Tom Steyer” and one begins to appreciate the level of Gary Peters’ duplicity. If there were a third side to the energy debate and it was capable of writing a check, it appears Gary Peters’ would be on that side, too.
But the Peters campaign now faces a potentially devastating ad attacking him for his opposition to the Keystone Pipeline. The ad is noteworthy because it links Peters’ opposition to his connection with Democrat money man Tom Steyer.
According to the ad, Peters and Steyer held a secret meeting at the billionaire’s estate on February 19, 2014 (I love the use of a specific date). Peters has consistently voted against the pipeline, thereby assisting Steyer who is invested in Keystone’s competitor. The ad further alleges that Peters obtain big campaign contributions for his help.
The ad below is made all the more devastating given today’s news about Peters’ personal finances. It’s impossible to see him as anything approaching principled on what for him has been a key campaign issue until now.