Why Gerry Connolly (R-VA) is still in office is beyond me. He couldn’t care less about his constituents, wastes significant amounts of time on frivolous and childish legislation (like the “Koch Brothers Appreciation Act” and the “Protecting Americans from Polar Bears Act”), uses his franking privileges to send out partisan mailers, and calls the police on his own constituents. I’m glad though that in Virginia we have an attorney general who actually cares about residents of the Commonwealth. Yesterday AG Ken Cuccinelli stood up to Connolly against intrusions of the federal government on the lives and well-being of Virginians:

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli testified before a U.S. House committee Tuesday on what he claims would be the devastating impact on Virginia and the nation of upcoming air quality regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Testifying on behalf of Virginia’s electricity consumers, Cuccinelli, a Republican, said the EPA’s Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule — which creates national standards for emission levels — would be “a financial death blow for businesses struggling to meet payroll and families on fixed incomes.”

The EPA and proponents of the rule, called for by the Clean Air Act and due to be finalized next month, see it as a vital step toward preventing air quality degradation from aging coal-fired plants.

But Cuccinelli told members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that the regulation could increase electricity prices between 10 and 35 percent and cause power plant closures because of the exorbitant cost of retrofitting the facilities. He also cited national job loss estimates of 180,000 between 2013 and 2020 if the regulation takes effect.

“For Virginia, the situation is even bleaker than for the rest of the nation,” Cuccinelli said, speaking to the heavy burden the regulation could impose on the coal industry.

“The most important industry in Southwest Virginia is coal mining. These regulations make coal more expensive and less desirable to use, which means the economy of Southwest Virginia … will be devastated by the destruction of the coal industry and the jobs lost along with it.”

These are real issues facing real people. The EPA has grown and extended their reach into our lives like some sort of bacteria since the Obama Administration put them on steroids. That’s why you hear so many Republicans going so far as to call for an end to the EPA. Conservatives are all for protecting the environment but we are not for unnecessary regulations that do more harm to the economy than they do to help the environment. Liberals couldn’t care less about the plight of Americans, all they care about is their green crusade.

Connolly is a member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) in the House, which is dedicated to pushing harmful environmental regulations down our throats. Connolly also voted for cap-and-trade. So it’s no surprise that he put this green religion ahead of families and working people:

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-11th, a ranking member on the committee, said it was “wasting time” on a partisan hearing outside its jurisdiction, saying the only purpose was “to attack common-sense EPA limits on mercury, arsenic, dioxin and other pollution.”

He then went off into la la land, showing his true colors:

Connolly also went after Cuccinelli, a resident of his district and a climate change skeptic, on separate issues.

“The Republican witness who joins us today certainly is an accomplished lawyer, with experience suing the federal government and subpoenaing research by University of Virginia professors,” he said, referring to the attorney general’s lawsuits related to health-care reform and the EPA’s position on greenhouse gases.

So apparently in the world of Gerry Connolly playing politics is more important than getting this economy going. He blatantly stated that he opposed helping Virginians because of a personal vendetta against Ken Cucinelli. So shameful, so very shameful…