Wynn Misleads on Environmental Record
For Immediate Release
Sept. 26, 2007
Temple Hills, MD - The campaign of Democratic congressional candidate Donna Edwards
said that accusations from incumbent Rep. Albert Wynn (D-MD) about Edwards' support
among environmental activists are inaccurate and misleading.
Edwards is challenging Wynn in the Democratic primary in the 4th Congressional
district of Maryland, which encompasses much of Prince George's County and eastern
Montgomery County. She came within 3,000 votes of beating Wynn last year.
In an interview published in the Roll Call newspaper, Wynn shared the letter he sent LCV board members in which he said he deserved to be endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters based on a grade of 96 from the League in the past. The League, for the second time, has endorsed Edwards.
Edwards campaign manager Adrienne R. Christian said that Wynn's facts are wrong, and
that his record shows he does not deserve the endorsement of a leading national
environmental organization. Christian pointed out that Wynn had received a 77
percent rating from the League in 2005.
Tony Massaro, LCV's spokeperson, said in a statement to Matt Stoller of Open Left that Rep. Wynn continues to get the facts wrong. He has a 85 lifetime, 77 in the 109th Congress which includes support for the 2005 energy bill, one of the most anti-enviromental pieces of legistlation to pass the House in the last 20 years and a 92 in 2006, none of which are 96 as you correctly pointed out. More to the point, in all his years in Congress he has not been an enviromental leader, while Donna has been a citizen leader on the environment for the past 30 plus years.
Wynn gained the chairmanship of the Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee
not because of his environmental record, but because of his seniority, Christian
said. "A chairmanship is a terrible thing to waste," Christian said, noting that
Wynn's panel has held the fewest hearings of any subcommittee on the Energy and
Commerce Committee.
Christian added that Wynn should not complain about Edwards' support from the
environmental community, when his support has come from powerful special interests.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, electric utilities have donated
more than $235,000 to Wynn's campaigns. "We all know that the utility industry has
worked for years to weaken our environmental laws. If Mr. Wynn is serious about
becoming an environmental champion, he should return that money and repudiate that
support," Christian said.
Wynn supported the Bush Administration's damaging energy legislation in 2005 that
gave the oil and gas industry more than $14.6 billion in tax breaks at a time when
crude oil was selling for $50 per barrel and gas at the pump skyrocketed. That law
is widely acknowledged as the most damaging anti-environmental legislation in
decades. His vote on that bill along with his opposition to increasing car fuel
efficiency standards and voting to gut the Endangered Species Act were among the
reasons he scored a 67 for that session of Congress, according to the League of
Conservation Voters' scorecard.
"I will match Donna Edwards' environmental record against anyone's, but particularly
against someone who votes with and takes money from big utilities and energy
companies," Christian said. |
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