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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2006
Contact:
Paul Hughes, executive director: (415) 974-4201; paul@forestsforever.org
Marc Lecard, communications manager: (415) 974-4202; marc@forestsforever.org
Jerry
McNerney defeats Richard Pombo!
Upset of anti-environmental congressman a victory for the planet
Democrat Jerry McNerney defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Richard
Pombo in California’s District 11 congressional election yesterday
in a stunning victory for forests and environmental protection efforts
nationwide.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, McNerney had 53 percent
of the vote to Pombo’s 47 percent.
“McNerney’s victory is a win for forests, for endangered
species, for clean air, clean water, and clean politics,”
said Paul Hughes, executive director of Forests Forever. “Richard
Pombo represented the oil companies, the timber industry and the
big developers. Jerry McNerney will represent the people of his
district.
“McNerney is committed to conservation and the environment,
to renewable energy and a sustainable future. He is exactly the
kind of representative we need to clean up the mess left by Richard
Pombo.”
McNerney, a wind power engineer and owner of an alternative energy
company, sees the need to stop burning fossil fuels as an opportunity
for developing new energy technologies. Reducing California’s
dependence on oil can lead to new industries and new jobs, he says,
as well as addressing global warming and air pollution.
McNerney will bring his ideas and experience to a Democratic Congress
now open to environmental legislation, long blocked by extremist
politicians like Pombo.
“For starters, we are looking forward to having our bill to
protect the giant sequoias from rapacious logging heard for the
first time early in the new Congress,” Hughes said. “Pombo-backed
efforts to drill for oil off the California coast, weaken the Endangered
Species Act, and gut the National Environmental Policy Act appear
to be doomed for the foreseeable future.”
Long critical of Pombo’s hostility to environmental legislation,
Forests Forever endorsed McNerney’s candidacy in August, and
since then rallied its supporters to volunteer in District 11 as
precinct walkers to register voters and turn out the vote on Election
Day. Working with Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, the Sierra
Club and other groups, Forests Forever volunteers helped make the
difference that resulted in McNerney’s victory.
“All Forests Forever’s supporters who helped with this
win have earned our heartfelt thanks,” Hughes said.
“Pombo’s decisive election defeat should send a warning
to anti-environmental politicians that American voters care about
issues such as global warming, roadless forests, wilderness protection,
and alternative energy.”
“Rep. Jerry McNerney will be a positive voice for conservation
in the U.S. Congress.”
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