EDF Calls On Sen. Smith To Carry On Sen. Chafee's Legacy

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today called on Senator Robert Smith (R-NH) to continue the leadership shown by Senator John Chafee (R-RI) as chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee in working to combat global climate change.

“Senator Chafee was a tremendously strong Congressional leader on the issue of climate change,” said EDF legislative director Elizabeth Thompson. “He created real bipartisan progress toward protecting the American people and American businesses from the impacts of global climate change. As one of the main sponsors of a bill to provide incentives to businesses that voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Senator Chafee broke through some of the polarized political debate on this topic and helped to move Congress toward finding practical solutions to the climate change problem. Senator Smith owes it to the environment to continue these efforts.”

“Senator Chafee understood that environmental threats should not serve as a partisan fighting ground,” said Steve Cochran, an EDF senior staff member. “He recognized that the US should be a leader in bringing the threat of global warming under control. We can only hope that Senator Smith will follow that tradition.”