Coffin takes shots at Ensign’s environmental record

Thursday, March 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Is Republican Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., an enemy of the environment?

Bob Coffin wants you to think so.

Coffin, a Democratic state senator challenging Ensign, has gone into an early attack mode, accusing the first-term Las Vegas congressman of voting to gut environmental regulations.

Coffin says Ensign's votes are linked to $47,000 in campaign contributions Ensign received last year from companies interested in weak environmental laws.

Ensign denied he is influenced by campaign contributions.

"I don't sell my vote," he said.

Ensign said his voting record reflects a desire to shift money from the regulatory bureaucracy to actual environmental cleanup.

He said companies such as Exxon Corp. and Marathon Oil -- each has contributed $500 to Ensign's campaign -- support him because they favor his overall philosophy. Oil production is a minor industry in Nevada.

Coffin's aggressive stance reflects a strategy by the national Democratic Party to target vulnerable U.S. House of Representative seats in the November general election.

Ensign defeated Democratic incumbent James Bilbray in 1994 by a margin of less than 1 percent. Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in the 1st Congressional District by about 30,000.

Records circulated by Coffin indicate Ensign voted against 32 pro-environment measures, including a May 11 vote to defeat a Clean Water Act amendment that would have established uniform standards for beach-water quality. The GOP-controlled House killed the amendment.

According to Coffin, that vote is questionable because Ensign accepted campaign money from oil companies responsible for spills that have polluted beaches.

Coffin also questioned whether Ensign should have accepted a $500 contribution from Bechtel Corp., which operates the Nevada Test Site, a proposed storage site for radioactive waste.

Ensign said he met recently with representatives of Bechtel to discuss the Test Site contract, but he does not recall meeting with any companies regarding environmental votes.

Southern Nevada Sierra Club spokesman Randy Harness said a link between contributions and votes is unproven, but his organization has given Ensign low marks.

"Ensign has rated about 95 percent 'no' on environmental issues such as funding for the Environmental Protection Agency," Harness said.

Coffin said he believes congressmen should be barred from accepting campaign money while Congress is in session.

Ensign said Coffin's proposal is unrealistic because Congress meets every year.

"The best campaign finance reform is term limits," Ensign said.