By Carrie Budoff
Even Nick DeBenedictis, one of the most ardent defenders of U.S. Sen.
Rick Santorum's environmental record, did not quite believe it. The
invitation for tonight's Pennsylvania Environmental Council dinner
showed Santorum would speak there - along with Democratic rival Bob
Casey Jr.
Santorum, after all, isn't a darling of the environmental movement. Quite the opposite.
"They paint Rick nationally as some ogre," DeBenedictis said.
The
League of Conservation Voters gives Santorum a 10 percent lifetime
rating. Republicans for Environmental Protection tagged him with a zero
last year. So did PennEnvironment, a nonpartisan advocacy group.
In
a race with only subtle differences between the candidates on some key
issues, the environment could emerge as one of the sharpest dividing
lines, testing Santorum's record of often deferring to the marketplace
for solutions against Casey's support of increased government
regulation.
For
Casey, the issue is another opportunity to link Santorum with President
Bush, accusing both of putting industry ahead of the environment. Casey
says he would have sided with the League of Conservation Voters on
every 2005 vote.
For
Santorum, he can talk up his seniority and ability to deliver money on
environment-related projects, highlighting a lesser-known line on his
resume that could soften his image. He will likely ask his audience
tonight to ignore the scorecards and focus on his work on other issues,
such as land preservation.
When
he asked about the senator's decision to attend the council event,
DeBenedictis - a former state environmental commissioner - said he was
told by a top Santorum aide: "People don't understand his record."
Santorum's
critics say it isn't complex: In their view, the Pennsylvania
Republican's votes place him among the Senate's weakest
environmentalists.
Santorum backs oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Casey opposes it.
On
global warming, Santorum says "scientists have not decisively
concluded" that it exists, and the government should react cautiously
to calls for mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases. Casey "is
convinced there is global warming," his spokesman, Larry Smar, said.
Santorum
backed Bush's 2005 rule on power-plant mercury emissions. Casey says
this measure does not go far enough and supports Gov. Rendell's efforts
to enact stricter rules on state coal plants.
"When
you look at where the votes are cast, he has not been a friend of the
environment," David Masur, PennEnvironment's director, said of Santorum.
The
League of Conservation Voters has made the senator's defeat a top
priority. It plans to knock on 40,000 doors in Delaware County, and do
a mail, phone and, possibly, a radio campaign for Casey, said Monica
Sherer, the league's Pennsylvania campaign manager.
Santorum
aides say the scorecards shortchange the senator's record by
overlooking his work on open space, farmland preservation and
brownfields redevelopment.
He
has pushed to retain the tax benefits of conservation easement
donations, which have come under increased scrutiny from the Internal
Revenue Service.
Santorum
helped author a farmland preservation program in 1996 and, more
recently, a bill authorizing $110 million over 10 years for
conservation projects in the Highlands region, which extends from
south-central Pennsylvania to Connecticut.
"Sen.
Santorum has, maybe, not been 100 percent on all the issues," said
Kristen Sykes, vice chair of the Highlands Coalition. But "he has
helped take the lead in the Senate on protecting open space and
protecting the Highlands," Sykes said.
His campaign included some of his efforts in a 12-page brochure, "50 Things You May Not Know About Rick Santorum."
Casey's spokesman said preserving open space was "common sense."
"Santorum should not be congratulated for doing his job...," Smar said.
Santorum's
aides say he tries to balance environmental needs with Pennsylvania's
role as a manufacturing state. The approach helped him earn a 100
percent rating last year from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which
scored legislators on six environment votes.
Historically,
the environment ranks near the bottom on the list of issues voters
consider among the most pressing in the state, according to 12-year
data from the Keystone Poll of Franklin & Marshall College.
However, open space in the Philadelphia suburbs and brownfields
redevelopment in the city elevates the issue among those voters,
pollster Berwood Yost said.
A
convergence of factors - most notably, high gas prices that have
focused attention on energy issues, and the release of a global warming
documentary featuring former Vice President Al Gore - could give the
environment a more prominent place in the political debate, say
pollsters and environmental groups.
In some ways, it already has.
Casey
has kept up an attack over gas prices, often saying that Santorum and
Bush haven't done enough to encourage energy independence. Santorum, in
turn, took the lead this spring on an energy package, which became best
known for an ill-fated and widely criticized $100 gas rebate to
drivers, but also directed the transportation department to write new
rules on fuel economy standards and included incentives for development
of alternative fuels and technology.
After
trading shots from a distance for months, Santorum and Casey will speak
to the same audience tonight for 10 minutes and take at least two
questions at the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn's Landing.
In
recent days, the Santorum campaign had been pushing the council to
invite the Green Party candidate, Carl Romanelli. Because of limited
time, it won't happen. "It was hard enough," a council spokeswoman
said, "getting [Santorum and Casey] to agree to speak together."
