Environmentalists plan campaign against President Bush in Florida

[Judi Lynn]

Environmentalists plan campaign against President Bush in Florida

By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
Posted December 9 2003

Hoping to tip the balance in the race for Florida's electoral votes, national environmental groups plan to send organizers to the state over the next several months to set up campaigns against President Bush.

The League of Conservation Voters expects to open a headquarters in Orlando and plans to bring hundreds of college students to Florida's campuses for voter registration drives. The Sierra Club plans to open a campaign headquarters in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. A new group called Environment2004 has raised almost $500,000 for its campaign in Florida and a few other hotly contested states. And the National Environmental Trust has hired field organizers for Broward and Miami-Dade counties to attack the Bush administration for failing to pay for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.

"We're making a major commitment to Florida," said Mark Longabaugh, political director of the League of Conservation Voters. "This is an unprecedented mobilization of the environmental community because of how bad George Bush has been for the environment."

Geoffrey Becker, executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, denounced the organizations as "Democratic front groups" that are taking unfair advantage of looser fund-raising rules than those that bind candidates and political parties. He said they are ignoring the Bush administration's record in restoring the Everglades and restricting off-shore drilling. (snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cenviro09dec09,0,7541601.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines