Source: The Journal News
Publication Date: November 3, 2006
Two environmental activists have quit their posts with the League of Conservation Voters to protest the group's endorsement of Rep. Sue Kelly, calling her record "mediocre" and "inferior."

Kelly, R-Katonah, is in a tight race against Democratic challenger John Hall and has touted the mid-October endorsement in her campaign advertising.

Cynthia Brill, a Katonah resident who served on the bipartisan group's statewide board, said in her resignation letter that she couldn't remain on a body that "purports to endorse political candidates who support the environment" when it backs a candidate "whose record and positions are clearly inferior."

In a similar letter, Hastings-on-Hudson resident Christy Pennoyer resigned from the board of the organization's Westchester chapter, which interviewed the two candidates and then couldn't agree on a recommendation to the state board.

"I fail to see how NYLCV could - with a straight face - take the position that Sue Kelly is the better vote for the environment," Pennoyer wrote. "I fear that NYLCV is fast losing any connection with the energy, ideas, and ultimately the money of the environmental community."

Chuck Warren, head of the state board, said the only such resignation he could remember occurred after the board endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton in her 2000 Senate race.

Warren said the state board routinely defers to the local chapter for a recommendation and when none was forthcoming because of the local deadlock, state board members looked at Kelly's record and its previous endorsements of her and made the decision to back her.

"We have supported her in the past and this year her national League score was 92 percent," Warren said. "The national League had told us that she'd been extremely helpful and was one of the few Republicans they could count on for environmental issues."

The national organization also endorsed Kelly.

Warren said Hall did well in his interview and would likely be "a good environmental vote," but had a limited record.

Amy Little, Hall's campaign spokeswoman, said Hall's endorsement by the Sierra Club showed his commitment to environmental issues, in addition to the fact that he was a board member of the environmental group Clearwater.

Little said Kelly's 68 average for her 12 years in Congress was too low. "That's a failing grade," she said. "Especially when you compare her to John Hall. She has voted for oil drilling (in the Arctic) several times, voted to cut spending on environmental protection by $1.5 billion and for limits on clean water and wetlands protection."

Jay Townsend, Kelly's spokesman, said Kelly's rating this year shows why she warranted the league's endorsement.

Townsend said Kelly opposed drilling in the Arctic on amendment votes, but supported the larger funding bills in which it was included.

"She opposed the Bush energy plan and voted to take the tax breaks away from oil companies," Townsend said. "No matter how many times we say it, (Hall) refuses to acknowledge it."

Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, updated June 7, 2005.