Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) in Wednesday night’s debate blamed “big oil” for soaring gas prices under Democrat policy while she is reportedly holding investments in the fossil fuel industry.
“What you are seeing is big oil jacking up its profits, paying their executives rather than lowering the prices at the pump. And Don Bolduc is not about to hold them accountable,” Hassan said.
“All of this would be mitigated if we continue to do what we did in our last piece of legislation to transition to clear energy so we aren’t depending on foreign oil,” she claimed about the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” that experts have said will not reduce inflation in the short term.
Gen. Bolduc slammed Hassan for “career politician, tactical double talk. Back and forth. Back and forth. You can’t pin her down on anything.”
Hassan, however, is invested in the fossil fuel industry she condemned. According to the National Review:
According to her 2020 financial disclosure, Hassan has between $4,004 and $60,000 invested in fossil-fuel based exchange traded funds (ETFs) and stocks. Once her husband’s holdings are taken into account, she holds between $19,005 and $110,000 in such stocks and ETFs.
Specifically, Hassan’s portfolio boasts up to $80,000 in Alerian MLP, an ETF that includes stocks from a number of fossil fuel companies; up to $15,000 in iShares Global Energy ETF, which includes stock from Chevron, BP, and ExxonMobil; and up to $15,000 in stock in Energy Transfer LP, whose “core operations include transportation, storage and terminalling for natural gas, crude oil, refined products and liquid natural gas.”
Energy Transfer LP is also the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which became a lighting rod for environmental groups. Its completion was briefly blocked by Barack Obama in the waning days of his administration before Donald Trump reversed the action.
Hassan is campaigning against Republican challenger Gen. Don Bolduc, who is leading Hassan by one point in the latest poll despite being outspent by about $9 million.
The New Hampshire Senate race is one of seven battleground states that will determine which party controls the Senate. To retake the Senate, Republicans need to hold Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and retake either Arizona, Nevada, Washington State, New Hampshire, or Georgia to have a one-seat majority in the Senate.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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