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Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., points toward the audience while announcing his bid for the U.S. Senate seat vacated with the resignation of John Kerry at Ironworkers Local 7 in Boston.

(Photo by Charles Krupa / Associated Press)

Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch and California clean energy activist Tom Steyer are engaged in a public spat over a letter Steyer sent Lynch threatening to launch an aggressive public relations campaign against him because of Lynch's support for the Keystone XL pipeline.

“This sort of behavior exemplifies the problem with the Washington establishment,” said Scott Ferson, a senior Lynch campaign advisor, in a statement sent to the press. “It’s not enough to support environmental efforts 94 percent of the time, as Congressman Lynch does. You need to be with every radical group 100 percent of the time or they will unleash millions of dollars against you.”

Steyer’s spokesman Chris Lehane hit back in an email to MassLive.com, “Lynch's response suggests he and his campaign must be suffering from the symptoms of March Madness as he continues to duck, dodge, bob and weave as it relates to coming clean as to why he is one of the very few Democrats in Washington who is putting foreign oil profits first - and refusing to demand that the oil company keep the oil in the U.S.”

Lynch and U.S. Rep. Edward Markey are competing in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Markey, along with many Democrats and environmentalists, opposes the controversial pipeline, which would bring oil from Canada to the Gulf coast. Opponents cite its potential for pollution and the lack of a guarantee that oil transported through the pipe would remain in the United States. Lynch, along with many Republicans and labor leaders, supports it. Supporters say it will create jobs and give the U.S. a new source of energy.

MassLive.com reported Monday that Steyer, the founder of one of the world's largest hedge funds, Farallon Capital, joined four local Massachusetts climate change activists in a letter to Lynch criticizing his support for the Keystone XL pipeline.

“Because climate change is such a serious issue, and because it is on the ballot as never before, we are asking you, Congressman Lynch, today to do one of two things by high noon on Friday, March 22,” the group wrote. “Either act like a real Democrat and oppose Keystone’s dirty energy. Or, get a sworn, binding statement – with securities law enforcement – from TransCanada and the refiners that all of the Keystone-shipped oil will stay here.”

Craig Altemose, a Massachusetts climate change activist who signed the letter, said Steyer, a billionaire, had committed to spending a “significant sum” of money opposing Lynch if their demands were not met.

Steyer has contributed millions of dollars to a variety of clean energy causes. But Lynch's campaign pointed out that Farallon Capital, which Steyer founded and left in 2012, has invested in tens of millions of dollars of stock in oil companies including Chevron, Exxon and Shell, as well as $40 million in stock in BP - including stock purchased a year after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which BP was responsible for. Farallon also has a stake in a large coal mining company in Indonesia. The international hedge fund manages over $20 billion assets.

“This guy made a fortune managing funds that invest heavily in oil, and even bought shares of BP after one of the worst oil spills in history,” Ferson said. “He has the audacity to call himself an environmentalist and threaten members of Congress? That takes a special kind of arrogance.”

Lehane responded that one reason Steyer left Farallon was because he was no longer comfortable being at a fund that was invested in virtually every economic sector, including fossil fuels. Steyer signed a “Giving Pledge” created by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates committing to giving away the majority of his money to philanthropy. “Nothing is more important when it comes to our kids than climate, which is now on the ballot in (Massachusetts),” Lehane said. “He certainly hopes Congressman Lynch will see the light and put the children of Massachusetts before the profit interests of a foreign oil company.”

Lehane repeated his demand that Lynch “has an opportunity between now and high noon on Friday to make clear whether he is going to continue to stand with Republicans like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to allow a foreign oil company to reap a huge windfall by piping oil through the U.S. so it can be shipped to China or whether he will stand for the common good and common health of the children of the Commonwealth.”

A spokeswoman for Farallon Capital declined to comment.

Lynch and Markey have signed a "people's pledge" barring outside groups from advertising in the race.

The Boston Globe editorial board wrote Wednesday, "Steyer may seek to evade that pledge by focusing on other forms of political spending — such as 'guerrilla marketing' and door-to-door campaigning — but his threat against Lynch surely violates the spirit of the pledge. Markey should tell Steyer to back off."

By law, Markey’s campaign cannot coordinate with an outside expenditure group. Asked about Steyer’s involvement, Markey campaign manager Sarah Benzing said, "Ed Markey categorically rejects any third-party expenditure against Stephen Lynch that would violate the People’s Pledge that they both have signed, and urges groups and individuals on both sides to respect the pledge to keep outside advertisements off Massachusetts airwaves. Unlike the Republicans in this Senate race who have flatly refused to follow the lead of Scott Brown in condemning the influence of outside money in our politics today, Ed Markey remains committed to cleaning up our elections by repealing the court’s misguided Citizens United ruling."