You know that thing where politicians take money from big companies and then try to pass bills that represent the interests of those big companies? Well, some of that shit went down in West Virginia last Friday when a bill was brought into the legislature that would allow oil companies to drill for black gold on a piece of land, provided 75% of the land are cool with it. I’m not huge on math, but it seems to me that this would seriously screw the last 25% of the land’s owners who don’t want their land messed with.
Lissa Lucas, a Democrat who’s running for a seat in the state’s House of Delegates, thought so too. Also, she has a serious issue with the strangle hold that energy companies have on West Virginia’s politics and, in turn, West Virginian politicians. Giving voice to her beef, Lucas stood up and attempted to read, on camera, the names of all of the politicians who were voting on the bill who happened to have also received political donations from oil companies.
For her troubles, she was hauled out of the legislature faster than shit pours through a goose. Did I mention that the whole thing was caught on video? Welp, here we are.
The Intercept’s Zaid Jilani spoke with Lucas about the incident, earlier today. If you’ve got a few minutes and care about the right of citizens to have their say over what their government does, and why, it’s worth a read.