State Representative Danielle Friel Otten has proven to be no stranger to public controversy. Back in May she compared hard-working Pennsylvania laborers to Nazis. Her comments were criticized by the Anti-Defamation League, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and they even received rare bipartisan admonishment by her legislative colleagues.
Representative Friel Otten has allied herself with a number of fringe activists opposing the Mariner East pipeline project. In fact, her opposition to the project, she claims, is why she ran for office in the first place.
Friel Otten has a history of trying to have it both ways. While a candidate for the Pennsylvania legislature, she touted that because her father was member of the Teamsters and her brother, a Steamfitter, that she supported unions. She highlighted her family ties while trying to win financial and political support from labor unions.
All this while disparaging a major union project in Southeast Pennsylvania and comparing the union workers on that project to the vilest people in the history of the world. She still has yet to apologize to the workers for her tasteless and unfortunate comparison.
Although she has been a ringleader of opponents to the Mariner East pipeline project, actively pushing for delays to the legally-permitted project, she is now complaining that construction is taking too long. The Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance happens to agree with her, but doubt her sincerity.
Like her ally, Senator Andy Dinniman, you can’t publicly advocate to delay construction, then act as if you are dumbfounded that the project is taking too long to complete.
It is time for the delays and frivolous lawsuits to end so that hardworking Pennsylvania men and women can do their job and complete the Mariner East project.
Danielle Friel Otten has proven hypocritical in the past and her latest actions are no different.