Sierra Club Endorses John Carney for Congress

John Carney yesterday announced that he has received the Sierra Club's endorsement in the election for Congress. WDEL reports that Carney spoke of the economic potential of developing wind power:

"We have an opportunity in our state to build the turbines, fabricate the steel towers and underwater structures. It's a billion-dollar project. There are projects in New Jersey and Maryland."

Carney's interest in wind power is well known; he played a pivotal role in working out a deal to get the Bluewater Wind project through the General Assembly in 2008.

The Sierra Club sent questionnaires to the candidates for Congress months ago. Glen Urquhart, Carney's opponent, did not even bother to fill out the questionnaire, despite repeated phone calls and e-mails to his campaign. Even with his opponent a no-show, the Delaware Chapter didn't give him the endorsement by default, but debated his record and his response to the questionnaire.

This was not the first time Urquhart has chosen to ignore environmental issues. Earlier this month, he and Christine O'Donnell blew off a long-scheduled forum on environmental issues.

I have talked with John Carney on environmental issues many times, and enthusiastically supported the decision to endorse him—a decision made even easier by Urquhart's failure to respond. But I find it distressing that Glen Urquhart doesn't even want to take part in a meaningful discussion of environmental issues. Couldn't he at least take the time to talk about it?