SANTA ANA : Conservationists Endorse Umberg
The California League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club endorsed Assembly candidate Tom Umberg on Wednesday, accusing his opponent, incumbent Curt Pringle, of having one of the Legislature’s worst voting records on environmental issues.
“Curt Pringle is on the bottom rung of legislators,” said Doug Linney, political director for the 30,000-member, San-Francisco-based league. “Anybody can look at Curt Pringle’s voting record and tell he is not for the environment.”
At a press conference, Linney distributed a 1989 list of environmental-related legislation that Pringle opposed. Linney said Pringle voted “correctly” 29% of the time on legislation backed by environmentalists, contrasted with the Assembly’s average score of 70%. According to the list, Pringle opposed legislation that called for cities to implement plastic recycling plans and that required tougher penalties against toxic polluters.
Pringle defended his voting record in an interview Wednesday and shrugged off the list of recommended legislation backed by the league and the Sierra Club.
“I’m not going to side with the ultra-liberal groups,” Pringle said. “My votes reflect environmental sensibility.”
Linney and Dan Hayes, a member of the Sierra Club’s political committee, said the two groups also backed Umberg for his support of Proposition 128, the broad environmental initiative known as Big Green. Pringle opposes the proposal.
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