NJ ENVIRONMENTAL FEDERATION ENDORSES LAUTENBERG FOR RE-ELECTION

NJ Environmental Federation Endorses Lautenberg for Re-Election
 
The NJ Environmental Federation (NJEF), the Garden State Chapter of Clean Water Action, announced today it is endorsing Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) for re-election, citing his years of work to protect the environment in the United States Senate.

"U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg's list of environmental accomplishments is as long as it is impressive. Time and again, he has proven his effectiveness at pushing for increased environmental protections, as well as opposing the anti-environmental agenda of the Bush Administration in Washington," said David Pringle, Campaign Director for the NJ Environmental Federation.

"New Jerseyans know I'm standing strong for them fighting to prevent Big Oil from drilling off our shores, keep our water clean, and tackle global warming.  They know I'm leading the fight to end the Bush-Cheney assault on New Jersey and our environment.  I look forward to continuing to make progress on challenges like cleaning up toxic waste sites, preserving our parks and refuges, advancing renewable energy and protecting our nation's waterways and wilderness," said Sen. Lautenberg.

Listed below are some of the key facts about Sen. Lautenberg's environmental record Pringle cited:
 
* Sen. Lautenberg holds a 96 percent lifetime pro-environment voting record - the highest in the U.S. Senate (www.lcv.org).

* As a leader on the Senate Environment Committee, Sen. Lautenberg played a lead role in advancing legislation to combat global warming, stopping the Bush Administration's effort to weaken citizens' right to know, strengthen tap and bottled water protections including the right to know, source water protection, pharmaceutical contamination, and more.

* Sen. Lautenberg wrote the law that banned ocean dumping of sewage sludge, plastics from ships, and dumping of raw sewage into NY Harbor.

* Sen. Lautenberg secured Senate hearings held this summer on the oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

* Sen. Lautenberg's current co-sponsorships include: the Clean Water Restoration Act to reaffirm the original intent of the Clean Water Act to protect all of our waters, not just some, from pollution; the Safe Climate and the Global Warming Pollution Acts, which set aggressive short and long-term targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, build a clean energy economy, and ensure that polluters pay; and designating the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness and preventing drilling and exploration there

Mr. Pringle noted that Washington lobbyist Dick Zimmer opposes fair trade, the Superfund tax on the chemical and oil industries, and strong implementation of the federal Clean Air Act, and also was a hired-gun lobbyist from 2006-07 who tried but fortunately failed to weaken the 2004 New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, whose goal is to protect from overdevelopment 800,000 acres in northwest New Jersey that provides over half the state's water supply.

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