[GreenYes] Gale Norton received approval

[Ann Schneider <schneiderann@juno.com>]

Gale Norton received approval from the U.S. Senate Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee.  Next she will go for the full vote 
of the Senate.

I've called my Senator, Dianne Feinstein office in San Francisco to 
find out when the full vote will occur but they do not know.  It was 
expected yesterday.

Ann Schneider


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
January 24, 2001 

CONTACT: 
David Willett, 202-675-6698 

NORTON'S HEARINGS DON'T NEGATE LIFETIME 
OPPOSING ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS 

Sierra Club Praises Sens. Schumer, Wyden for 
Voting to Protect America's Public Lands 

Washington, DC -- The Sierra Club today expressed
disappointment that the U.S. Senate Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee voted to confirm Gale
Norton as Secretary of the Interior, but praised 
Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Ron Wyden 
(D-OR) for opposing her nomination. 

Under tough questioning by Schumer, Wyden and 
other Senators, Norton disavowed some of her 
extremist positions, but the Sierra Club continues
to believe Norton will not be an adequate steward 
of America's public lands and urges the full Senate 
to reject her nomination. 

"Two days of hearings cannot negate the decades 
Norton's worked to undermine environmental 
protections," said Carl Pope, executive director 
of the Sierra Club. 

"After a career spent trying to dismantle laws 
protecting our National Parks, streams and 
wildlife, we're skeptical about Norton's sudden
u-turn on these issues," Pope said. "Senators 
extracted from Norton a pledge to uphold the laws
safeguarding our public lands, but we believe a 
lifetime of actions speak louder than two days of words.
Norton has worked for decades as a lobbyist and lawyer 
for extractive and polluting industries." 

Pope added: "We understand that deference is paid
to a President's nominations, but Senators also have 
a duty to withhold their consent when a pick espouses 
views far from those held by mainstream Americans. We 
applaud Senators Schumer and Wyden for saying no
to Norton's extremism." 

Through local press conferences in over a dozen 
states, email campaigns, phonebanks, volunteer 
mobilizing, radio and television advertising, and
other grassroots actions, the Sierra Club has 
educated Americans about Gale Norton's 
anti-environmental extremist positions and raised
serious questions about her qualifications for Interior 
Secretary.