MURPHY CALLS FOR OGONOWSKI TO DIVEST OIL STOCK

Independent candidate for Congress Patrick Murphy of Lowell calls upon Republican candidate Jim Ogonowski to divest himself of his significant holdings of Exxon-Mobil stock.

This past Thursday, in his interview with Lowell Sun Editor Jim Campanini, Republican Jim Ogonowski railed against the rising costs of gas prices, and exclaimed on the NewsTalk program that he did not even have an extra “buck in his pocket” to pay for this price rise. Perhaps it is because his money is tied up in Exxon-Mobil stock, in which he has invested an estimated $50,000-$100,000 according to Federal Election Commission personal disclosure reports.

While on the campaign trail Mr. Ogonowski has professed support for alternative energy measures, ending our dependence on foreign oil, and a stabilization of oil prices, his personal profiteering from this company and its recent success runs counter to his public statements. In the recent NECN debate, when pressed on what Democratic measure he might support, Mr. Ogonowski gave a vague answer of “environmental bills,” unaware apparently that top Democrats have tabled any call for raising fuel efficiency standards for vehicles.

On September 18, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Exxon-Mobil, the largest oil company based in the United States, lobbied the federal government — Congressmen and women — with nearly 6.4 million dollars on a number of different legislative measures. A report issued earlier this year by the Union of Concerned Scientists, called Exxon-Mobil “the worst offender among oil corporations for disseminating false scientific claims about climate change.” The company lobbied for laws relating to “energy, climate change, labor laws, corporate taxation, pension reform, fuel efficiency standards and international relations.” Perhaps most troubling is the corporation’s involvement in the latter, as Exxon-Mobil has posted record profits throughout the duration of the Iraq War, a war which Alan Greenspan recently deemed to be “largely about oil.”

In order to remain free of the “special interests” that Mr. Ogonowski purportedly condemns on the campaign trail, independent candidate Patrick Murphy urges the Republican to divest himself of his Exxon-Mobil stock. Mr. Ogonowski’s oil holdings raise serious questions about the sincerity of Ogonowski’s calls for environmental protection and for “cleaning up” Washington. Additionally, Ogonowski’s oil holdings introduce a question of morality: is it right to be profiting largely because of a war, because of others’ losses?

Murphy calls on Ogonowski to follow in the footsteps of Democrat Niki Tsongas, whose spokeswoman, Katie Elbert discussed her candidate’s divestment in an earlier Lowell Sun article: “The position that she’s taken on these issues are the exact opposite of what those companies stand for,” Elbert said. “She would not want there to be even the slightest question as to her independence as a member of Congress, which is why she sold those stocks.”

Murphy has never owned stock in an oil company and practices the environmental conservation that he preaches. Some may remember the Sun’s June article “Some vote-hungry hopefuls have gas-thirsty vehicles” which concluded: “Maybe everybody looking to save the environment should take a page from the playbook of Patrick Murphy, the independent candidate for Congress. Patrick doesn’t own a car, and carpools to work each day with his cousin. ‘On trips downtown Lowell, he uses an unregistered pair of 2005 Adidas with high mileage,’ his brother Dan Murphy wrote in an email. ‘On trips to the city of Boston and beyond, he takes the T.’” With his cousin Dan O’Connor, the family business uses traditional methods in masonry: mortar is mixed, cuts are made, and materials are moved all by hand. Murphy is also a member of the Merrimack River Watershed Council which helps monitor and ensure clean waterways and for which, in lieu of accepting campaign donations, he is currently raising money through his website, [1] www.sendmurphytocongress.com.