Green groups, Hurt spar over conflict of interest charges

Comment:  Now look at the following comment: "Hurt, he said, is also on record as opposing the lifting of the state uranium-mining ban."  However, the following statement maybe "We have to wait for NAS uranium study."  The NAS uranium study paid for by Virginia Uranium Inc which his father's is an investor!  I mean really, this is a conflict of interest, no matter what the so call "part time leaders of VA" say!  No to uranium mining and milling and a vote for Hurt is a vote for uranium mining!  Pay attention "Tea Party" do you support the death cycle of uranium mining, he is your man, right?

By Darren Goode - 10/19/10 01:11 PM ET

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and Sierra Club on Tuesday unveiled a radio ad buy to counter Virginia Republican Robert Hurt’s efforts to unseat freshman Rep. Tom Perriello, one of the most endangered Democratic incumbents.

But Hurt’s campaign is hitting back, accusing the groups of running a “patently false” charge that Hurt is supporting uranium mining interests in the state because it would financially benefit both him and his father.

The one-minute radio spot — along with a TV ad already airing in the district — says it was a “scandalous conflict of interest” that Hurt did not recuse himself from a vote in the Virginia state Senate that allowed for a feasibility study on whether uranium mining is safe. The state currently bans uranium mining.

The LCV and Sierra Club ad suggests that Hurt cast his vote because of “thousands of dollars” Hurt has received from “uranium interests” and the fact that his father — a retired Readers’ Digest editor — is an investor in a uranium company looking to mine in the state.

“It was a shocking conflict of interest,” the ad states. “Hurt should have stepped aside but he voted yes.” It adds that Hurt “doesn’t care about our community or us. He put his personal interest above ours.”

Hurt's people notes that Hurt got clearance from a state Senate ethics panel chaired by Democrats before he cast a vote on a panel that unanimously approved the feasibility study.

 Hurt, he said, is also on record as opposing the lifting of the state uranium-mining ban.

Read more:
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/124825-green-groups-hurt-spar-over-conflict-of-interest-charges