Senator Sununu says 'No' to Clean, Renewable Energy Future

12/07/07

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Sandretti, (202) 785-8683 or david_sandretti@lcv.org

Votes with Minority to Block Senate Action on House-Passed Energy Bill

WASHINGTON, DC - The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) issued the following statement criticizing John Sununu's (R-NH) failure to support the House-passed energy bill in the Senate.

A majority of the Senate today voted with a majority of Americans who want to increase fuel efficiency standards, require utilities to produce more electricity from renewable sources and with greater energy efficiency. Unfortunately, Senator John Sununu sided with a minority of the Senate to block this important legislation.

For Sununu, it's nothing new: as a member of the House of Representatives, he voted against the people of New Hampshire and weakened land use laws, subsidized environmentally destructive coal-fired plants and relaxed toxic cleanup laws. As a Senator, Sununu has cast doubt on human causes of global warming, opposed environmental groups on issues of water pollution in New Hampshire and supported oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Today, he stood pat with a minority in the Senate that sided with big oil and big coal to block a measure that is good for jobs, good for the economy, good for national security, good for consumers and good for the planet.

He and a handful of other Senators could have brought forward a bill that would increase fuel efficiency for automobiles to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, require that 15% of our electricity come from clean, renewable energy by 2020 and repeal billions of dollars of subsidies for oil companies, all of which are priorities for the people of New Hampshire.

But this fight is not over. There will be more votes on these issues and Senator Sununu will have ample opportunity to reverse his position, support a renewable electricity standard and increase fuel efficiency for cars and trucks.

LCV President Gene Karpinski said today's result underscores the need to elect more pro-environment senators who will fight for clean energy. "We will continue to fight for this legislation because it represents a significant first step toward reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, combating global warming and decreasing air pollution, while simultaneously stimulating economic growth, creating thousands of new jobs and saving consumers money on energy bills," he said.

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The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is the independent political voice for the environment.
To secure the environmental future of our planet, LCV's mission is to advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt and implement such policies. For more information, please visit us on the web at www.lcv.org