DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE ACTION FUND ENDORSES TOM UDALL AND TARGETS NEW MEXICO SENATE RACE

Building On Success With Last Cycle’s Pombo Race,
Group Makes New Mexico a Centerpiece of 2008 Campaign

Washington, D.C. − The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund announced today that one of its main areas of focus during the 2008 elections will be the state of New Mexico. The group will focus primarily on electing Representative Tom Udall, whom it is endorsing in his race for the U.S. Senate. In addition, it is likely to be very active in one or more of the three open seat House races in New Mexico’s. Ed Yoon, the group’s field campaign manager during its successful 2006 campaign against former Representative Richard Pombo (CA-11), has been designated as state campaign manager and has established an office in Albuquerque.

“New Mexico presents a rare opportunity for Americans who care about conservation to increase their ranks in the Senate and House,” said Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen. “Representative Tom Udall has a stellar conservation record and we know he’d be a true champion for New Mexico in the Senate. Conversely, Representatives Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson both have atrocious conservation records. They both sit on House committees that are vital to our nation’s conservation efforts, yet both have voted repeatedly to provide tax breaks to polluting industries and undermine key laws that protect our air, land and water. Their horrible record in these key committees has earned them a place on our target list for 2008.”

Representative Pearce sits on the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees much of the nation’s wildlife and land conservation efforts. Representative Wilson is on the House Energy and Commerce Committee which takes the lead on issues related to pollution, clean energy and global warming. The Defenders Action Fund focuses special attention on these vital committees, believing that membership on these committees should come with a commitment to protect our nation’s air, land and water. In 2006, the Action Fund targeted the then-chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Richard Pombo, because of his record of accepting campaign contributions from polluting industries and then using his elected position to undermine and weaken conservation laws. Although heavily predicted to win, Pombo was handily defeated, the only sitting chairman to lose in that election cycle.

“Representatives Pearce and Wilson have followed the same path the voters have seen so many times, taking big campaign contributions from polluting industries and then promoting their special interest agenda in Congress. Both Pearce and Wilson have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from big oil, gas, mining and other polluting industries, and then repeatedly voted against clean energy and efforts to combat global warming, and against commonsense measures to protect New Mexicans’ quality of life,” said Schlickeisen.

“For too long, Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson have refused to protect New Mexico’s conservation heritage and to address our nation’s energy needs in a way that protects our air, land and water for future generations,” said Ed Yoon, Action Fund campaign manager for New Mexico.  “We’re going to build a strong and effective grassroots campaign and work with our allies to change that.”

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The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund (www.defendersactionfund.org) provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.