Noem Highlights Opponent’s Troubling Background in Debate

Mitchell – At today’s DakotaFest debate, Kristi Noem touched on a chapter in Matt Varilek’s life that the Democratic candidate rarely mentions – his time as a globetrotting environmental activist and his extreme views on environmental regulation. After studying at European universities, Varilek became the Director of Policy and Research for Natsource, a Wall Street firm that was at the forefront of the carbon-trading movement. While at Natsource, Varilek traveled to Morocco, where he spoke at a United Nations conference on global warming.
 
“As Kristi Noem made clear in today’s debate, a candidate’s background matters,” said Noem campaign manager Tom Erickson. “While Kristi Noem was still helping her family pay off the death taxes they were hit with after her father’s death, Matt Varilek was speaking at a United Nations global warming conference in Morocco. What South Dakota needs in Congress is someone who has lived and breathed agriculture their entire life, not an environmental activist who supports radical policies that would increase production costs and decrease profits for our farmers and ranchers.”
 
In his role as Director of Policy and Research for Natsource, Varilek wrote extensively about the carbon trading industry, even writing that successful carbon trading markets have typically developed after governments impose caps on carbon emissions. Natsource, Varilek’s former firm, was so closely tied to the development of cap-and-trade in the United States that the company was forced to issue layoffs after cap-and-tax legislation stalled in the U.S. Senate.
 
The Kristi for Congress campaign also announced today that South Dakotans can learn more about environmental activist Matt Varilek at the new website www.CapAndTaxMatt.Com.  The campaign has purchased online advertising to promote the site and educate South Dakotans about Matt Varilek’s extreme views on environmental regulation.