Tom Steyer: the man, the myth, the billionaire, the man who chose to take down Cuccinelli

I confess that in my old age I’ve grown more sympathetic with the idea of less government in the lives of Americans, but one area that hasn’t changed are my views on the environment and the unequivocal need to take government action to stop its devastation. So when I hear Virginians bemoan the environmental funding of billionaire Tom Steyer, I’m once again reminded (as if I needed it) about the short-sightedness of the so-called ‘business friendly’ class of conservatives who seem intent on ‘raising the revenue’ while handing future generations a world worse off than what we inherited.

The irony of the most recent news coming from the Steyer camp is that Virginia’s public pension system has reportedly been investing over $732 million with a private equity firm connected to the financial billionaire. Who said money doesn’t grow on trees (get it?)?  

The Virginia Retirement System rated Hellman & Friedman LLC, a San Francisco-based investment firm managed by Steyer until 2012, one of its top ten money managers for private equity funds in 2012.

The relevance to Virginia’s voters on a more political level is Steyer’s funding of a multi-faceted effort to undermine Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s appeal to Virginia’s voters.

According to the Virginian-Pilot, Steyer has played a role in spending close to $1 million in attack ads against Ken Cuccinelli, ads which have caught the attention of Republican candidates and operatives who aren’t used to being the ones outspent on attack ads.

If ‘being green’ is being wrong, consider me the Jolly Green Giant. Contrary to what some individuals in the conservative camp seem to believe, Virginians can’t continue digging up dinosaur remains, dumping hazardous substances into bodies of water, opening up new mega-landfills for the importation of trash, or constructing new highway lanes in the hopes that this will magically ease traffic congestion. The list could go on.

What Steyer may realize, and what many of us in the environmentalist camp understand, is that all of the money in the world won’t be able to pick up the pieces of our environment once we’ve reached the critical stage of environmental devastation, and that stage may not be too far off. If Ken Cuccinelli had his way, I’m confident that critical stage would be reached sooner rather than later.