Green Jersey

Sierra Club and NJEF back Lautenberg

The Sierra Club said Tuesday that it was backing Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s reelection bid.

New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel called the Democratic senator “a fighter for us when it comes to the environment” and “a real environmental champion.”

Lautenberg has served for more than 20 years in the U.S. Senate in two nonconsecutive terms. In 2001, the Sierra Club gave him a lifetime achievement award. A recent poll had him leading his Republican challenger, former U.S. Rep Dick Zimmer, by 16 points.

The N.J. Environmental Federation announced its endorsement of Lautenberg yesterday, citing his 96 percent pro-environment lifetime voting record, co-sponsorship of the Clean Water Restoration Act, Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act and Safe Climate Act and work to prevent oil drilling and exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, among other things.

From the Sierra Club:

While Frank Lautenberg led the fight in the Senate to help protect the Highlands, Dick Zimmer was a lobbyist hired by special interests to try to undermine protection of the Highlands and threaten the drinking water for 5.5 million people in New Jersey. While Frank Lautenberg has fought to clean up toxic sites in New Jersey, Dick Zimmer opposes the reauthorization of the Superfund law, which requires polluters to pay for the cleanup of these sites. And while Frank Lautenberg has led the fight in the Senate to combat climate change, Dick Zimmer just produces more Bush Administration hot air.

Lautenberg has also demonstrated effective leadership on issues like removing cancer-causing asbestos from public schools, preserving Sterling Forest, banning smoking on airplanes, and securing funding for mass transportation.

More: Sen. Lautenberg on the environment and energy (from his Senate site).