The day after she blew by student organizers on her way into a $2,500/plate fundraiser with energy lobbyists, Lisa Murkowski suddenly expressed her new found appreciation of protestors.

On a Chamber of Commerce conference call, Senator Murkowski responded to a compliment from coal baron and noted asshole Robert Murray* by boasting about her very “own group of protestors”:

I actually had an event here in Washington last night and I had my own group of protestors show up, and I guess you know you’ve arrived in politics when you generate your own group of protestors against you.

Listen to the audio for the full effect:

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In case you missed it yesterday, here’s the video of Murkowski “meeting” her “fan club” before heading to meet her actual biggest fans, lobbyists representing Big Oil and Dirty Coal:

* In addition to his general disdain for our planet and all that inhabits it, is it possible that Mr. Murray’s current antipathy to the EPA is related to its opposition of his recent proposal to build a new toxic coal slurry impoundment?

As a big thank you for her efforts to roll back 40 years of Clean Air Act protections, energy lobbyists held a fundraiser last night for Senator Lisa Murkowski at the Caucus Room in DC.

In response, our Organize to be Heard student organizers donned “No Dirty Air Act” surgical masks, presenting an apocolyptic vision of a future where big polluters can destroy our environment with impunity.

The protestors staked out the entrance and windows of the fundraiser, ensuring that Murkowski, as well as Senators Gregg, Enzi, and Chambliss, and representatives from Big Oil and Dirty Coal couldn’t miss the striking visuals.

Update:

More details on the Murkowski’s polluter friends

Host Alex Flint lobbies for the Nuclear Energy Institute, whose PAC has given her $5,000 since 2008. Beverly K. Marshall lobbies for Duke Energy, which is basedin North Carolina, and has given the senator $24,050over the course of her career. David Russellrepresents a number of clients for Bryan Cave LLP, including Peabody Energy, a coal company basedin St. Louis,  Mo. Peabody’s PAC has given her $3,000 since 2008.