Perzel Listed as One of the 12 Dirtiest State Lawmakers in the Nation

League of Conservation Voters Adds Representative John Perzel to the Inaugural State-Level Dirty Dozen

Philadelphia - Today, the national League of Conservation Voters (LCV), which works to turn environmental values into national priorities, announced the inaugural state-level Dirty Dozen program. Pennsylvania State Representative John Perzel is one of 12 candidates for state office from around the country named to the list for failing to accurately represent his district’s strong environmental values. LCV’s local ally, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania (CVPA), will work to defeat Perzel during the remaining months of the election cycle.

"Representative Perzel continues to put the interests of corporate polluters above the health and safety Pennsylvania’s citizens," said CVPA Executive Director Josh McNeil. "His environmental values are so at odds to those of the people of the 172nd District that he has well earned his place on the Dirty Dozen.”

When tough votes come before the legislature, Representative Perzel routinely votes against clean energy and reasonable environmental protection. On the 2007-2008 Sierra Club/Clean Water Action Environmental Scorecard, he earned a pathetic 20%. On the 2007-2008 PennEnvironment Scorecard, he earned a 29%, despite broad public support for environmental stewardship in his district.

On that same PennEnvironment scorecard, Senators Shirley Kitchen, Michael Stack and Tina Tartaglione, whose districts overlap the 172nd, scored 86%, 71% and 71%. Likewise, overlapping US Representatives Robert Brady and Allyson Schwartz both scored 100% on the 2009 League of Conservation Voters Scorecard. Perzel’s underperformance seems unlikely to change.

Oil and gas companies have donated $13,200 to Perzel since 2001 and he has been a worthwhile investment. Perzel’s district does not sit above the Marcellus Shale natural gas deposit and has little to gain from Marcellus drilling. In fact, hasty and haphazard drilling may seriously pollute the Delaware River, from which Philadelphia gets its drinking water. Nevertheless, on May 10, 2010, Perzel voted to reduce the term of a moratorium on drilling in state lands from three years to one (Representative Reed’s amendment to HB2235). That vote wasn’t in the interests of his constituents, but did serve the purposes of the oil and gas companies eager to get access to more state land.

The people of District 172 deserve representation that puts their health and well-being ahead of the financial interests of out-of-state drilling companies. That’s why John Perzel has been named to the state-level Dirty Dozen.

The full list of state-level Dirty Dozen candidates can be found at http://www.lcv.org/statedirtydozen.

"From Congress to the state house there has never been a more urgent time to defeat politicians who stand with Big Oil and block progress on clean energy reform," said LCV President Gene Karpinski. "With the U.S. Senate's recent failure to act on comprehensive energy and climate legislation, we need strong environmental leaders at the state level to move the ball forward on new energy policies that will put America on the path to a clean energy future."

LCV's trademark Dirty Dozen program targets candidates for Congress - regardless of party affiliation - who consistently vote against clean energy and conservation and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome. Since 1996, more than 60 percent of the federal candidates named to Dirty Dozen have been defeated. Today's announcement marks the first time LCV has named a state-level Dirty Dozen consisting of gubernatorial and state legislative candidates.

For a list of federal candidates named to the 2010 Dirty Dozen, visit http://www.lcv.org/dirtydozen.

For more information on Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, visit http://www.conservationpa.org.

League of Conservation Voters names Toomey to "Dirty Dozen"

WASHINGTON – Today, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), which works to turn environmental values into national priorities, named former Club for Growth President and Pennsylvania Senate candidate Pat Toomey to its 2010 "Dirty Dozen" list. Coinciding with the announcement, LCV is launching an online campaign that includes a web video and targeted online advertising, alerting Pennsylvania voters to Toomey’s campaign cash from Big Oil and his dangerous support for oil and gas drilling in Lake Erie, even in the wake of the Gulf Coast catastrophe and the record-breaking Midwest oil spill in the Kalamazoo River. View the web ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A93zPtaVY0Y

“Be it as a member of Congress or president of the Club for Growth, Pat Toomey has made clear that he walks lockstep with Big Oil and other corporate polluters while opposing new energy policies that would set America on the path to a clean energy future,” said Tony Massaro, Senior Vice President for Political Affairs at the League of Conservation Voters. “From drilling for oil in the Great Lakes to opposing legislation that creates clean energy jobs, his extreme views on energy policy put him far outside the mainstream and easily earn him a spot on the Dirty Dozen.”

Toomey’s Big Oil record:

• Toomey’s lifetime LCV environmental score is an abysmal 11%. In 2003 and 2004, his last two years in office, he received a 0% score after voting against every major piece of clean energy and environmental legislation.[1]

• As a Congressman, Toomey voted against repealing subsidies to Big Oil, against increasing energy efficiency measures and against efforts to help American drivers go further on a gallon of gas.[2]

• Over the course of his political career, Toomey has received more than $294,000 from energy interests, including $123,800 from the Oil and Gas industry.[3]

• Despite record oil disasters on the Gulf Coast and the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, Toomey continues to support dangerous oil drilling off of America’s coasts as well as in Lake Erie – and as a member of Congress he voted to open the Great Lakes to oil drilling.[4]

• Toomey has also made his staunch opposition to comprehensive energy and climate legislation that creates jobs, reduces pollution and increases our national security a key part of his campaign.[5]

LCV's trademark Dirty Dozen program targets candidates for Congress — regardless of party affiliation — who consistently vote against clean energy and conservation and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome. Since 1996, more than 60 percent of the Dirty Dozen have been defeated. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Representatives Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Michelle Bachmann (R- MN) and former Congressman Steve Pearce (R-NM) are currently on the 2010 Dirty Dozen list. Former Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA) was the first candidate to be defeated of the 2010 Dirty Dozen. Learn more at http://www.lcv.org/dirtydozen.

Michigan Republicans: Lose Your house, Lose Your Vote

Lose your house, lose your vote
By Eartha Jane Melzer 9/10/08 6:42 AM
Michigan Republicans plan to foreclose African American voters
The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

http://www.michiganmessenger.com/4076/lose-your-house-lose-your-vote

How are progressive organizations responding to Palin? League of Conservation Voters

Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), which works to turn environmental values into national priorities, today expressed its deep disappointment with John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

“Unfortunately, with her support for drilling in the Arctic Refuge and off our coasts, Governor Palin will simply continue the failed policies of the Bush-Cheney Administration and their Big Oil friends – policies that could make us even more dependent on foreign oil," LCV President Gene Karpinski said.

Governor Palin characterizes McCain’s flip-flop on drilling offshore as a positive step in his transformation from maverick to Big Oil's best friend.

She has implored McCain to change his position against drilling in the Arctic – something she will have plenty of opportunities to pursue as his running mate.

In addition to supporting backward-looking energy policies, Governor Palin has also opposed a crucial clean water initiative, sued the federal government for listing polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and opposed other important wildlife protection measures.

This ticket now stands in even starker contrast to the visionary energy plan laid out by Senator Obama last night, which will create millions of new jobs, improve our national security, and reduce global warming pollution.

“Now more than ever, America is in need of real vision and leadership to bring us a new clean energy future, and the McCain-Palin ticket offers nothing of the sort.”