Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Endorses Obama-Biden: Group Simultaneously Releases First TV Ad on Palin's Environmental Record

Last update: 10:44 a.m. EDT Sept. 12, 2008

WASHINGTON, Sept 12, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund today endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) for President and Vice President of the United States. Below is a statement from the organization's president, Rodger Schlickeisen.

"John McCain's choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate confirmed that the only candidates we can truly count on to protect our air, land and water are Senators Obama and Biden, and we are proud to today offer our endorsement of the Obama-Biden ticket," said Schlickeisen.

"John McCain's record on the environment has been extremely mediocre at best, often erratic, and clearly inferior to that of either Obama or Biden. Now, his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate provides a very clear warning that - as difficult as it may have been to contemplate earlier - a McCain-Palin administration would likely be just as bad as the Bush-Cheney one on many major environmental issues. So when it comes to sound environmental policy, to conserving wilderness areas and wildlife, to standing up to the special interests, there really is now no contest between the two tickets. While the McCain-Palin campaign studiously avoids most environmental issues and offers energy proposals based largely on Big Oil's wish list, the Obama-Biden campaign is offering solid positions in nearly every environmental area, including forward-looking energy solutions.

Continued Schlickeisen, "When McCain picked the notoriously anti-environmental Palin, he surrendered any reasonable argument that his administration would make finding real solutions to our nation's serious energy, conservation and environmental problems a priority. The McCain-Palin ticket is now the overwhelming preference of big oil companies that have made billions in profits, while average Americans struggle to fill their tanks. That should tell voters who care about the environment and our children's future all they need to know."

Defenders Action Fund underscored its endorsement by launching a new TV ad about Palin's environmental record, focusing on her support for the aerial hunting of wolves, a cruel practice she actively champions in Alaska. The program licenses private citizens to fly airplanes and shoot wolves from the air or chase them to exhaustion before landing and shooting them point blank. The gunners then sell the pelts of the animals they kill for profit. The program also targets grizzly and black bears, which are chased by air and then shot on the ground. The ad, which will air in presidential swing states, shows a new and extreme side to the Governor, which has yet to be fully explored in the media.

"Sarah Palin not only condones the aerial hunting of wolves and bears, she actively promotes it," continued Schlickeisen. "She has even gone so far as to propose a bounty of $150 for every severed left foreleg of a wolf the hunters can produce. Her promotion of this ghastly and unscientific program - which she pursues while simultaneously suing the federal government to eliminate protections for the imperiled polar bear - offers voters a glimpse of her values and character that is quite different from the picture carefully crafted by the McCain-Palin campaign's professional speechwriters. It should also provide voters with a good idea of what a McCain-Palin administration's approach to stewardship of our nation's natural resources would be like. Americans deserve to know about this real side of Sarah Palin before they make up their minds about her.

"Put simply, if voters care at all about the environment, about protecting our air, land, water and wildlife for future generations, then they should look past the misleading rhetoric of the McCain-Palin campaign and support Obama-Biden," concluded Schlickeisen.

To see the TV ad and to read more about Defenders Action Fund's 2008 endorsements go to www.defendersactionfund.org.

The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund ( www.defendersactionfund.org) provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.

SOURCE Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund