Senator Ted Stevens, arch-foe of renewable energy, indicted over ties to oil industry

In Washington, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, a 40-year veteran of the Senate and former chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, was charged with seven counts of making false statements on financial disclosure forms.

The Justice Department said that the Senator did not report more than $250,000 in gifts and services from an oil services company, VECO, between 2001 and 2006. The Stevens investigation stems from the conviction of VECO executive Bill Allen on bribery charges. Stevens has been a staunch supporter of the oil industry and a tough opponent of renewable energy. According to the League of Conservation Voters, he “repeatedly denied he existence of global warming throughout his career“.

According to RetireTed.com, Stevens voted against the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act in June, extending the renewable energy tax credit, voted against oversight of energy trading markets in 2002, voted against loans for syngas in 2007, and the 2007 federal clean portfolio standard.

Stevens also was named to a Biofuels Digest list of Senate flip-floppers, as one of six US Senators who voted to increase the Renewable Fuel Standard from the President’s 2007 proposal, voted in December for passage of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (which included the Renewable Fuel Standard), yet subsequently called for repeal of the RFS last spring.

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