Sorry for the previous email with missing text. The summary below is from "Grist". Click on links to read entire articles. Jack VERMONTY HAUL Explaining his motivation to leave the Republican Party and become an Independent, U.S. Sen. James Jeffords (Vt.) this morning listed "energy and the environment" as two of the "fundamental issues" where he disagreed most strongly with President Bush. Jeffords is known as an environmentalist and was one of six founders of the Congressional Solar Energy Coalition. Reports are that Jeffords will be the next chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under an agreement with the new Democratic leadership. If so, Jeffords, with an 81 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters in the last session of Congress (the second highest rating among all Republicans), would replace Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.), who received a 6 percent rating. straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 24 May 2001 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/577803.asp> straight to the source: Washington Post, Eric Pianin and Helen Dewar, 24 May 2001 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A67686-2001May23.html> straight to the source: New York Times, Philip Shenon, 24 May 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/24/politics/24CHAI.html> straight to scorecard: League of Conservation Voters <http://scorecard.lcv.org/> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]