Sierra Club to spend $8 million on 17 congressional races

Laura Meckler

Tuesday, April 25, 2000 | 4 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Hoping to make the environment a bigger political issue, the Sierra Club began an $8 million TV and radio campaign Tuesday aimed at 17 congressional races, including one in Nevada.

The ads, mostly praising Democrats, will be combined with other activities, including voter guides and fliers at community events, as the group attempts to elect a more pro-environment Congress.

The Sierra Club is spending several hundred thousand dollars on the first round of ads, which began airing Tuesday. Within the next couple of months, the group also plans ads on the presidential campaign, criticizing the record of Gov. George W. Bush in Texas, as it did during the GOP primaries. It may also air ads praising Democrat Al Gore.

The ads unveiled Tuesday both praise and criticize candidates for the House and Senate, almost exclusively helping Democrats. Just one Republican is praised and no Democrats are criticized.

"It's no secret that Democrats generally have better records," said Dan Weiss, political director for the Sierra Club.

The group would not say who was paying for the campaign. The money is being routed using a provision of the tax code that allows the group to avoid paying taxes on contributions without requiring it to say where the money comes from.

The group said it was looking for tight races where it could make a difference, and it chose many of the closest races around the country. But the one Republican who is praised, Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut, is not expected to face stiff competition. In his district, the Sierra Club plans to run only radio ads.

Most places will see television ads, typically around TV news shows.

Using polling that shows people care about local environmental concerns, the group is targeting each campaign around a local issue. In Michigan, it's pollution in the Great Lakes. In Washington state, it's salmon runs. And in Montana, it's contamination from the Zortman-Landusky Mine.

"All politics is local when it comes to the environment," said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who helped the Sierra Club develop the campaign.

In past campaigns, the Sierra Club spent just under half of its political money on paid advertising, with the rest paying for grass-roots activities. A precise budget for 2000 was not available, Weiss said.

The group may add to its list of targeted races. So far, in addition to Shays, it plans campaigns supporting Democratic Reps. Mark Udall of Colorado, James Maloney of Connecticut, Dennis Moore of Kansas, David Bonior of Michigan, Rush Holt of New Jersey, Shelley Berkley of Nevada, Joseph Hoeffel of Pennsylvania, Adam Smith and Jay Inslee of Washington and Lane Evans of Illinois.

It also plans to criticize the records of these Republicans running for the Senate: Sens. Slade Gorton of Washington, Spencer Abraham of Michigan and Conrad Burns of Montana, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Virginia Gov. George Allen. It also plans to criticize the record of Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Pa.

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On the Net: The Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org