FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 15, 2006

Contact:  Glen Hooks
Office:  (501) 301-8280
Cell:  (501) 744-2674
glen.hooks@sierraclub

SIERRA CLUB ENDORSES ROBERT HERZFELD FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

Touts Candidate’s EnvironmentalPositions, Openness, Support for Club 

            The Sierra Club of Arkansas today announced its endorsement of Robert Herzfeld for Arkansas Attorney General in the upcoming Democratic primary election. Currently serving as Saline County Prosecuting Attorney, Herzfeld previously worked for Congressman Ray Thornton as a legislative assistant in Washington, D.C., and for Arkansas Attorney General Winston Bryant in the consumer protection division.

           The endorsement required an extraordinary majority of both the Arkansas Sierra Club’s Political Committee and the Executive Committee, and it is based on candidate responses to the Sierra Club questionnaire, voting records, and individual history of working with the Club on key environmental issues. Each of the three candidates for the Democratic nomination were asked to respond to a questionnaire on environmental issues in the context of the role of the Attorney General, and only Dustin McDaniel failed to respond. 

“Of the three Democratic candidates for Attorney General, the Sierra Club found Robert Herzfeld to be the most knowledgeable about environmental issues and the most committed to protecting the Natural State,” said Stephen Smith, Chair of the Sierra Club’s Political Committee.  “His thoughtful positions on environmental issues, in addition to his status as an active member of the Sierra Club, give us confidence that he would be the most forceful advocate for clean air, clean water, and healthy forests among the Democratic candidates for Arkansas Attorney General.”

            "I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Arkansas Sierra Club in my race for Arkansas Attorney General,” said Herzfeld.  “I am particularly proud of the Sierra Club's strong advocacy in favor of bio-fuels and of their work on behalf of Arkansas's sportsmen to protect our fields and streams.  As Attorney General, I will work hard to advance the cause of conservation to preserve "The Natural State" for our children and grandchildren to be able to live, hunt, and fish in a cleanenvironment."

            The office of Attorney General is critical to protecting Arkansas’s natural places for recreation, hunting, and fishing.  As the state’s chief legal officer, it is often up to the Attorney General to stand firm against those who would pollute Arkansas.  According to the Attorney General’s website, the AG’s Environmental Division “has been active in bringing lawsuits to clean up hazardous and solid waste dump sites, to abate public nuisances, and to maintain Arkansas's forests, lakes, and scenic rivers so that future generations can enjoy the outdoor splendors that are so plentiful in the Natural State. The Division is also entrusted with the protection of certain trust funds established within the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and often represents the interests of those funds in environmental and tort actions.”

            “The Sierra Club is made up of thousands of Arkansans who value our natural resources, and we know that we must do everything we can to elect pro-environment candidates at the state level who will stand up for the rights of all citizens to protect and enjoy the natural resources of our state,” said Smith.  “The Sierra Club believes that Robert Herzfeld is such a candidate, and we proudly endorse him today.”

            The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest environmental protection group.  Formed in 1892 and now numbering nearly 3,000 members in Arkansas, the Sierra Club works in all fifty states, Canada, and Puerto Rico to protect our air, water, forests, and special places.