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USA: Sierra Club to highlight US lawmakers' enviro votes.
By Tom Doggett

06/24/2002
Reuters English News Service

(C) Reuters Limited 2002.

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - The Sierra Club unveiled on Monday a new
advertising campaign to spotlight the environmental records - both good
and
bad - of members of Congress up for reelection this autumn.
Environmental issues are expected to be key in certain races around the
country with Democrats eager to remind voters about Bush administration
policies that they say favor business interests over environmental
protection.


"We will work in ... states across the country to show the public who is
protecting America the beautiful and who is not," said Margaret Conway,
the
Sierra Club's national political director.
Conway said some polls show that Americans are frustrated with the Bush
administration's environmental policies of the last 18 months.

A Sierra Club poll released last week gave the president a 59 percent
negative approval rating among voters on the environment.

Among the actions seen by some as anti-environment are a refusal to
lower
arsenic in drinking water and a decision allowing more asthma-causing
particles in the air. The administration has also indicated it wants to
roll back a ban on new roads in federal forests for mining and industry,
and to allow oil drilling on pristine U.S. lands.

Republicans say the actions reflect a better balance between the
nation's
energy and industrial needs and environmental protection.

The first wave of Sierra Club advertisements, beginning this week and
running through the Fourth of July holiday, will target election races
in
nine states.

The Sierra Club will initially run ads opposing a group of Republican
members of the Senate and House of Representatives, while endorsing
mostly
Democratic lawmakers.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican in the first the
round
of ads to win the Sierra Club's praise, due mainly to her votes in
Congress
against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and
support for stricter vehicle gas mileage requirements.

Environmental groups view blocking drilling in the Arctic refuge and
boosting vehicle fuel standards as among their top priorities in
Congress.

However, the Sierra Club turned its back on Republican Sen. Gordon Smith
of
Oregon, even though Smith was one of a handful of Republicans to vote
against drilling in ANWR.

In its ad campaign, the group criticized Smith for voting against more
money "for protection of our natural resources" and for voting against a
measure to block the Interior Department from spending any money related
to
oil and gas drilling and coal mining in national monuments.

In contrast, Democrat Jean Carnahan of Missouri won the backing of the
Sierra Club, even though she voted against significantly raising the
mileage requirements for cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles that
would
have reduced gasoline demand and cut foreign oil imports.

The group praised Carnahan for voting to keep the Arctic refuge closed
to
drilling and for supporting more funds for federal natural resources and
environmental programs.

Conway said the overall environmental record of each lawmaker was
reviewed,
and the Sierra Club's decision on whether to target an individual was
not
based a specific vote in Congress.

Other Democratic lawmakers the Sierra Club highlights with good
environmental records are Sen. Paul Wellstone and Rep. Bill Luther, both
from Minnesota.

The group's ads slam Republicans Sen. Wayne Allard of Colorado and Reps.
John Sununu of New Hampshire, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Greg Ganske of
Iowa, Tom Latham of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota.

Conway said the Sierra Club would spend "several million dollars" on
campaign advertising this year.

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