2006-12-19·westranchbeacon.com · WordPress (West Ranch Beacon)·Wayback capture

Cemex aids Arnold with $15,000 check

By admin

City of Santa Clarita County of LA CEMEX

Judy O’Rourke, staff writer for the Daily News reports Cemex, which has locked horns with the city over a proposed 56.1-million-ton aggregate mine planned on the outskirts of town, has contributed $15,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s inaugural.

The news comes weeks after Santa Clarita lobbied the governor to help defeat Cemex plans to mine in Soledad Canyon.

A representative of Cemex said Monday that the donation was simply a way for the Mexico-based conglomerate to support the event’s festivities. Read the rest of the article here: http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_4864619

Comments

1 · as published

Pauline Harte
Pauline Harte Says: December 30th, 2006 at 12:45 am It comes as no surprise to me that Cemex is attempting to buy Arnold Schwartzenegger. Cemex had Tom DeLay working for them in our own House of Congress for many years. For years, Tom DeLay worked on behalf of Cemex in congress, urging his fellow congressmen to support the illegal practice of “dumping” cement into the U.S. market so Cemex wouldn’t have to pay millions in “dumping” fines, and Tom petitioned the Commerce Department to refrain from penalizing Cemex for its illegal dumping infractions in the United States. From the Congressional Accountability Project: “According to Roll Call … Without mentioning Cemex by name, Rep. DeLay’s op-ed supported Cemex’s position that it should be allowed to sell its cement in the United States without being forced to pay a ‘dumping duty.’ … This vigorous assistance by Rep. DeLay in support of the efforts of his lobbyist brother produces the clear impression that Rep. (Tom) DeLay has provided special and inappropriate political favors to his brother and to Cemex.” Now Cemex is trying to buy Arnold Schwartzenegger’s support because Cemex has a long, well-documented history of attempting to circumvent environmental legislation and they think sending huge donations to Arnold will help them to this end. Check out Cemex teaming with TXI in Texas, one example, Cemex filed a lawsuit to challenge environmental legislation. Weaker environmental laws means less restrictions for Cemex and means less pollution fines for Cemex when they mine in a sloppy, hazardous manner; Cemex knows that weakened environmental legislation means residents have a lot less control over project pollution infractions, and this is why there is nationwide opposition to bad-neighbor Cemex. That Cemex “donation” to Arnold is just more of the same old sleazy tactics Cemex has used for years. $15,000.00 for just one event was Cemex’s way of informing Arnold that there’s plenty more to come from Cemex deep pockets. Pauline Harte.