Politicians take fossil-fueled trip to the Galapagos Islands to learn about global warming?

Baird, Hooley deny congressional junket charge - Jeff Mapes on Politics - OregonLive.com

Reps. Brian Baird, D-Washington, and Darlene Hooley, D-Ore., are about to get raked over the coals by the TV show, Inside Edition, for a congressional trip they took to the Galapagos Islands in June.

The show charges that the trip, which included five members of Congress, three of their spouses and Hooley's daughter, was really an expensive vacation paid for by the taxpayers.

Baird, who is from Vancouver, and Hooley both told me, however, that it was a working trip that gleaned important information on the issue of climate change. The two also noted that they paid their own expenses for Baird's wife and Hooley's daughters, although they flew for free along with the representatives on a military jet.