The Boren Identity by Eric Lipton Editor’S Note: Oklahoma’S Main- and Campaign Finance Laws
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$2.50 25,000 Blue Chip Readers VOL. 44, NO. 1 An Independent Journal of Commentary JANUARY 10, 2012 Blue Dog’s Lucrative Politics The Boren Identity By Eric Lipton Editor’s Note: Oklahoma’s main- and campaign finance laws. stream media – particularly the Boren often works in close coordi- state’s two largest daily newspapers nation with the lobbying and promo- – have failed yet again to perform tional groups in Washington financed their most basic function: inform the by the natural gas industry in an at- citizenry. A virtual code of silence en- tempt to wield influence in a city veloped last month’s extraordinary where energy debates have long been New York Times’ front-page expose dominated by oil and coal interests. on U.S. Rep. Dan Boren that raised Boren, 38, a conservative four-term serious questions not only about Democrat, has announced that he will the Blue Dog Democrat’s ethics, but not seek re-election [in 2012]. Instead, also about who he represents most he plans to return home and work in fiercely – the rank-and-file voters of the private sector – he would not say his eastern Oklahoma district or the with what industry – and consider a state’s powerful, well-heeled energy run for governor. Whatever happens, interests. With permission from the he said, he will continue to promote Times, The Observer reprints the re- Oklahoma’s natural gas industry. port in full: “It is a part of who we are,” he said. CALUMET – Gas money is trans- “East Coast liberals don’t really have forming vast stretches of Oklahoma. a frame of reference. They are eager Here, 40 miles west of the state capi- to get the resource – and heat their tal, crews work through the night homes – but they don’t understand drilling new wells deep into the earth, us.” and a small army of laborers rips One of Dan Boren’s first jobs out through just-planted fields of winter of college was in oil – as vice presi- wheat to install miles of gas pipeline. tinental Resources, whose stock has cess with which shale gas is extract- dent of the small company run by his Across the state in tiny Atoka, a Ca- surged while it helps lead the explora- ed, known as hydraulic fracturing, or stepfather, John C. Robbins, in East dillac and a Jaguar park next to pick- tion of gas reserves nationwide. fracking. Texas. Energy industry executives ups outside the local store that sells The congressman’s income has Serving as co-chairman of the helped drive his political career, urg- cowboy boots and overalls; in nearby jumped in the last six years, thanks House Natural Gas Caucus, Boren has ing him to follow the lead of his father Coalgate, the natural gas industry has to two family businesses he partly worked to block any move by federal and grandfather, Lyle Boren, and run created six overnight millionaires. owns that have signed more than 300 regulators to restrain the drilling and for Congress in 2004 after one term in The spreading wealth from gas fields mineral leases, worth hundreds of efforts by the Obama Administration the Oklahoma House. has also benefited Rep. Dan Boren, a thousands of dollars. Many of those to curtail tax benefits for the gas and “It’s in your blood,” Mike Terry, Democrat who has deep family ties to deals are with Chesapeake Energy, a oil industries. He has also pushed for president of the Oklahoma Indepen- the industry – and has acted as one of top donor to his campaigns. federal incentives to increase demand dent Petroleum Association, recalls its best friends on Capitol Hill. Boren is a champion in Washington for natural gas. And he sees no prob- telling Boren. “It’s part of your heri- Boren’s stepfather is an indepen- of an industry that is experiencing lem with entangling his professional tage. And we need you there.” dent oil and natural gas producer in a historic boom but also increasing advocacy and his self-interest. The pitch came just as a revolution East Texas, just over the border. His scrutiny. He argues that the drilling “There’s zero conflict,” Boren said in natural gas drilling was ignited. father, David Boren, a former sena- can help solve the nation’s energy in an interview. “It’s like if you are liv- Devon Energy, a business based in tor and Oklahoma governor, received problems and dismisses concerns ing in a timber community and your Oklahoma that is now one of the na- $350,000 last year in total compensa- about the potential environmental parents are working for the local mill. tion’s largest natural gas companies, tion for serving on the board of Con- and health perils posed by the pro- You should go and advocate for your had bought out a competitor whose local mill, even if you derive some owner had perfected the fracking benefit from it.” technique, which uses a mixture of House ethics rules do not prohibit water, sand and a soup of chemical lawmakers from taking steps to aid lubricants to free natural gas trapped industries in which they have a finan- deep underground in the pores of cial stake. But some ethics experts dense shale rock. say such actions are still inadvisable. The drilling boom started in com- “Even if it is legal, if every member munities like Atoka in Boren’s dis- of Congress pushed for industries trict. Mayor Charles A. McCall III was that they have financial ties to, there startled when local farmers began would be an outcry from the public,” showing up at his family-owned bank said Robert M. Stern, a California law- with giant checks from gas compa- yer who has helped draft state ethics See BOREN Page18 Observations Howdy! With this issue of The Observer we tive journal for generations to come. welcome hundreds of new readers, We’d be especially grateful if you many opening these pages thanks to would introduce younger readers to the generosity of loyal, longtime sub- The Observer. Encourage them to scribers. visit our beautiful web site at www. It won’t take long to discover The okobserver.net – and to check out our Observer is unlike any other publica- new user-friendly mobile versions for tion in Oklahoma. iPhone, iPad and Android users. For 44 years, we’ve spoken truth to As you become familiar with The power, peering behind closed doors Observer, please don’t hesitate to into smoke-filled rooms where deals tell us how we’re doing. We welcome are cut, skewering the pompous, ex- other points of view and constructive posing the hypocrisy – generally infu- criticism – no name-calling, innuendo riating the state’s powers-that-be. or slander. Our little journal of free voices is Welcome aboard! beholden to no one – only to the truth as we see it. We don’t wear the col- lar of either party, but are driven by Fallin’s Disgrace again next year to make the bill a law. the conviction that all – regardless of “Oklahoma taxpayers deserve to Vatican Support race, religion, sexual preference or Hard to believe that Gov. Mary Fall- have more accountability over their A Vatican news release is a clear socio-economic status – deserve an in’s mother was a social worker, given tax dollars,” Derby said. ‘When a com- sign that it supports the message of equal shot at the American dream. that she recently signed an emergen- pany breaks their word by taking state the Occupy Wall Street protests, ac- We don’t labor under the thumb of cy rule eliminating birth as a qualify- tax dollars and then moves jobs out cording to Vincent J. Miller, the Gu- big advertisers. We endure because of ing event for individual health insur- of Oklahoma or overseas there should dorf Chair in Catholic Theology and the support of Oklahoma’s most in- ance coverage. be consequences for that action.” Culture at the University of Dayton. tellectual, progressive, civic-minded Here’s an average week in Okla- According to the Oklahoma De- With protesters taking to the streets readers who may not always agree homa: 1,053 babies are born; 144 are partment of Commerce, the state has around the world to fight for better in- with our unabashedly liberal analysis born to teen mothers ages 15-19; 357 given over $110 million in taxpayer come equality and economic opportu- or priorities, but who can’t abide the are by cesarean section; 141 are born dollars to companies that are on the nities for the poor and middle class- mainstream media’s lockstep, righ- preterm; 87 are of low birth-weight, Department of Labor’s list for out- es, the Vatican is urging an overhaul twing conservative rhetoric, inces- and nine babies die before their first sourcing American jobs. of the world’s financial systems and a sant establishment butt-kissing and birthday. “Companies that are sending Amer- return to a global economy based on routine failure to tell the whole story, Expect those figures to zoom, given ican jobs overseas or out of state ethical behavior and “achievement of without fear or favor. the emergency rule. Fallin claims it should not be rewarded with taxpayer a universal common good,” the AP re- We don’t agree – or expect you to is to attract insurance companies to dollars,” Proctor said. ports. agree – with everything we publish, Oklahoma. “Last year much of the Legislature While the Vatican has, in the past, but it will make you think. Nothing Oh, having an insurance company voted to cut our funding for military criticized uncontrolled capitalism, contributes to a healthy democracy here is worth a baby’s life? Mary Fal- veterans at the same time they gave the new call goes further, decrying quite like a raucous public square, lin is a disgrace.