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Congressman Michael Arcuri was in Caroline Tuesday to receive an endorsement from the local Sierra Club.  The Sierra Club's Iroquois Group Political Chair Dr. Rhea Jezer announced the endorsement to a group of local Democrats and well-wishers on a portion of the Finger Lakes Trail near the Tompkins and Tioga County line.

"It is rare that you have a congressman of this sort who really cares," she said.  "He cares about every one of his constituents.  He cares about the environment they live in for their health, and for their safety, and particularly for this gorgeous environment that we have here."

Arcuri is running for a third term as U.S. Congressman from the 23rd district.  Before being elected to Congress he was the Oneida County District attorney for 12 years.  Two years ago he was challenged by Utica Businessman Richard Hanna, who came very close to unseating Arcuri when he got 48% of the vote.  Hanna is challenging Arcuri again this year.  While Hanna is hoping that the political pendulum swing that is beginning to favor Republicans will work in his favor, Arcuri is hoping that his record will convince voters that he works hard to understand issues and do the right thing.

Both portray themselves as independent thinkers.  Arcuri upset members of his party when he voted against the Health Care bill in march.  The vote in the House of Representatives was a close 219-212.  Hanna stresses his independence, noting that he splits from his party on social and environmental issues.

This summer Hanna's campaign has released multiple statements showing him neck and neck or ahead of the incumbent, citing a Rothenberg Political Report analysis in September, a  Hotline TV report in July, and a June NPR poll.  But on September 7th the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) released a poll showing Arcuri in the lead by 13%, 50% to 37%.  Arcuri has said that he hopes getting his message out that he is working hard on issues that impact his constituents will get him reelected this time around.

"One thing that we did last time that we continue to do now, is talk about issues," Arcuri said while visiting Dryden last July.  "But one of the things that I will talk about is that we have never heard positions from Mister Hanna either two years ago -- or now -- on any issue."

Jezer echoed that sentiment Tuesday.  She says that the Sierra Club looks closely at all the candidates before deciding to endorse one -- or none at all.  When Hanna was in Lansing last month he said, "I'd like to be on the Agricultural Committee, because this district is such an agricultural district as is much of upstate New York.  I'm interested in creating an environment that survives over time."


But Jezer says it is a matter of actions versus words.

"He came down very, very poorly on all the issues," she says.  "Everyone calls themselves an environmentalist because they walk around and breathe the air, and they walk on the Earth, and they eat the food.  But it's not what you say, it's really what you do.  He's had no record on doing anything environmentally.  That is something we look at.  What have you done, how have you proven this before you reinvent yourself as a candidate?  Hanna doesn't have that record."

Arcuri is part of a group of New York Congressmen who have worked with Congressman Maurice Hinchey to break up the frack act up and get it passed piece by piece.  Arcuri's part was to introduce an amendment to the Oil Spill Accountability and Environmental Protection Act of 2010 (H.R. 5629) that will take away oil and gas companies' exemption from being required to obtain storm water permits at drilling sites.

After a battle, his amendment not only passed in committee, but remained part of the bill when it was passed in the full House.  Arcuri convinced congressmen from the Chesapeake Bay area to support the amendment, and sent a letter from a group he headed to the Democratic leadership in the house.  But he says that was just the beginning of the fight.  The Senate will take up the issue next.  Arcuri notes that a lot of big oil companies are not happy with his amendment and the fact that it has passed in the House.

"I suspect you will see some nasty commercials about me this year," he says.  "I look at it this way: this is a real victory for the people of upstate New York.  Water is now one of the top four issues I am asked about.  Four years ago everyone was talking about the war, but now water is front and center for us."


Arcuri praised the Sierra Club for its contribution to the effort to make sure that oil and gas drilling is safe, and said he was honored to receive its endorsement.

"As the oldest and largest grass roots environmental organization in America the Sierra Club's record of protecting our land, our water, and our air, stretches back over a century," he said.  Then looking over his shoulder at wooded hills he said, "Sometimes a picture speaks far more volumes than all of the speeches and all of the words that we can write."

Arcuri said the solution is a united front across all levels of government, concerned citizens, and grass roots organizations.  He promised to do his part in protecting the health and safety of upstate New York water supplies, and asked those present to join the effort, saying he doesn't want oil and gas companies to profit off of New York at the expense of state waters and lakes.

"When New York State becomes the Empire State again, it's not going to be because of our natural gas reserves," Arcuri said.  "It's going to be because we have an abundant supply of clean drinking water, a supply that is dwindling in other parts of the country.  That's what made us the Empire State many years ago, and that's what will make us the Empire State again.  That's why action is so urgently needed."

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