Trenton, NJ - The Sierra Club has endorsed Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in his reelection bid for the U.S. Senate.  "The choice is very clear," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.  "Frank Lautenberg has been a fighter for us when it comes to the environment.  He is a real environmental champion.  In 2001 the Sierra Club gave Frank Lautenberg a lifetime achievement award and he has just continued to achieve."
 
          The New Jersey Senator said he was honored to receive the group's endorsement and that he will continue to work hard on a range of important environmental issues.

           "New Jerseyans know I'm standing strong for them - fighting to prevent Big Oil from drilling off our shores, keep our water clean, and tackle global warming," Lautenberg said.  "They know I'm leading the fight to end the Bush-Cheney assault on New Jersey and our environment.  I look forward to continuing to make progress on challenges like cleaning up toxic waste sites, preserving our parks and refuges, advancing renewable energy and protecting our nation's waterways and wilderness."

          Tittel noted the differences between Lautenberg's record and that of his opponent, Dick Zimmer.  "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 for mass transportation. "Senator Lautenberg has made a real difference here in New Jersey and across the nation," commented Tittel.  "While Senator Lautenberg has been one of the greenest people in the U.S. Senate, Dick Zimmer has been taking green from special interests and lobbying to undermine environmental protections."

          In fact, Lautenberg has been such an environmental champion that New York State has named the visitor center at Sterling Forest State Park after him to honor is work in saving Sterling Forest .  "While Frank Lautenberg was protecting our environment  Dick Zimmer was living in DC and using a loophole in the farmland assessment program to avoid paying his fair share of taxes on his home in New Jersey as he lobbied to undermine environmental protections and open space back at home," noted Tittel.

           "Rarely has the Sierra Club been presented with the opportunity to endorse a public official that is a true friend with a proven environmental leadership like Senator Lautenberg's," concluded Richard Isaac, Political Chair of the Sierra Club's New Jersey Chapter.  "We fully embrace his candidacy and ask all of New Jersey's voters who care about the environment to do likewise."

          The Sierra Club is the nation's oldest and largest environmental group with more than 750,000 members, about 23,000 of them here in New Jersey.  As Tittel describes it, "The Sierra Club endorsement is the green version of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."