SIERRA CLUB ENDORSES RITA LOUIE IN PRIMARY

The Atlantic (NY) Chapter of the Sierra Club today announced its endorsement of Rita Louie in the upcoming primary election for Haverstraw Town Supervisor on September 10, 2013.

"We are very pleased to announce today that the Sierra Club officially endorses Pomona Trustee Louie for election," said George Klein, Chair of the Lower Hudson Group of Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter. "We are confident that she will continue to work to protect New York’s environment, for our families and for our future."

Louie has been one of the leaders in the fight to oppose United Water’s plans to build a desalination plant in Haverstraw to treat water from the Hudson River and sell it to Rockland residents for drinking water. As part of the Rockland Water Coalition, of which Sierra Club is also a member, Louie has stood up at countless public information sessions, hearings, and town board meetings exposing the damage this expensive and unnecessary plant will do to Haverstraw Bay, the highest rated ecosystem in the Hudson, and the plant’s potential to greatly exacerbate global warming through its intensive energy use.

Louie also has a record of protecting open space and wetlands in her district, and, if elected, plans to work towards energy efficiency and flood reduction in the town though green infrastructure improvements.

"We are deeply grateful to Rita for her strong stand to protect the health and environment of Rockland residents,” said Gale Pisha, Political Chair of the Rockland Sierra Club branch of Lower Hudson Group. "She is a true environmental champion who has a vision to revitalize Haverstraw through green job creation, while protecting New York’s clean air, clean water and special places."

Along with the endorsement, the Sierra Club will lend its volunteer strength to Louie's campaign. "We pledge to do all we can to help ensure Rita is elected," concluded Pisha. ”We look forward to a victory party for the environment on primary election night and to many more years of Rita fighting for the environment as Haverstraw Town Supervisor.”