Environmental Groups Endorse Bret Binder

The following is a press release from Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania.

Thursday, Today, Clean Water Action, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania (CVPA), and the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter announced their endorsement of Bret Binder for State Representative in District 156.  
 
"There are too many committed environmentalists in this district for it to be represented for another term by someone who votes solely in the short-term, immediate interest,” said Brady Russell, Eastern PA Director of Clean Water Action. “That's why Clean Water Action urges its members to come out and vote for a change in representation, and support Bret Binder."
 
"In addition to slowing the process of global warming, clean air is necessary to avoid worsening asthma, cardiac disease and diabetes,” said Jeanette MacNeille, Chair, Clean Air Committee, Sierra Club SE PA Group.  “We need legislators who see that connection, like Bret Binder. Your vote for Bret matters now more than ever."
 
“Bret Binder will fight to protect our families because he believes that every Pennsylvanian deserves clean air and safe drinking water,” said CVPA Executive Director Josh McNeil.  “He will be a strong, committed advocate for a healthy West Chester.”
 
 “I am proud to stand with Clean Water Action, Sierra Club, and Conservation Voters of PA, groups that have led the charge in promoting and passing progressive environmental legislation in Pennsylvania and across the nation,” Binder said. “One of my primary goals is to ensure that air and water quality in Pennsylvania is protected and our open spaces are maintained. Together, I hope that we can return Pennsylvania to its rich history of environmental protection and conservation.”
 
Binder is challenging first-term incumbent Representative Dan Truitt, who failed to serve the interests of his constituents on the crucial issue of Marcellus Shale drilling.  Truitt earned a 31% score on the joint 2012 Marcellus Shale Scorecard produced by these three organizations.  He voted three times to lower gas company taxes and in favor of state budget cuts to education, health, and environmental protection.  In voting for Act 13, Truitt helped pass legislation that stripped the rights of local communities to decide when and where pipelines and other potentially dangerous infrastructure may be built.
  
“Representative Truitt put the interests of his constituents aside in order to follow the orders of Governor Corbett and gas industry lobbyists,” McNeil continued.  “If Truitt had supported a real tax on gas drillers, he could have saved the jobs of thousands of teachers, lowered property taxes, and preserved open space in West Chester.  Unfortunately for all of us, he made the wrong choice.”