Environmental Group Backs Castelli Over Buchwald
Assemblyman Robert Castelli has received the backing of the New York League of Conservation Voters, an environmental advocacy group that typically backs Democrats.
The group announced its endorsement Wednesday at a press conference outside New Castle Town Hall, citing Castelli’s support for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and his record of backing the priorities of the LCV.
“We have been impressed with his ability to understand the issues that are important to the League of Conservation Voters, his ability to engage with us, to understand our positions, and to take important leadership positions in New York State,” League of Conservation Voters Westchester Chair Nanette Bourne said at Wednesday’s press conference. “We’re excited that he continues to score extraordinarily high on all of the issues in environmental agenda items that are important to us.”
The league has made 70 endorsements in races for Congress and the state legislature in New York so far, endorsing six Republicans, one independent and 53 Democrats. They decided, though, to back Castelli, a Republican from Goldens Bridge running for re-election in what will become to 93rd Assembly District, over his Democratic challenger David Buchwald, a White Plains councilman.
“Issues on the environment are not Republican or Democrat issues, they’re issues for all are concerned,” Castelli said. “If we allow them to degenerate into partisan politics, then the environment is the issue that loses. So I’ve tried to work across the aisle with my colleagues on both sides to try to move the environmental agenda forward.”
Buchwald Campaign Manager Barry Cato defended his candidate’s record on environmental issues and blasted Castelli for votes against gay marriage, abortion rights and gun control.
“David Buchwald has a sterling environmental record as a White Plains City Councilman, and eagerly anticipates working with the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental groups to protect the environment as an assemblyman,” Caro said in an e-mail. “We’re confident that the voters won’t give [Castelli] another chance to keep adding to his collection of extreme votes.”
Hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, has been perhaps the most frequently discussed environmental issue since Castelli took office two and a half years ago. Proponents of fracking have called it a safe way of reducing dependence on foreign oil and creating jobs in the region while opponents have questioned whether the technology is safe. Castelli has called for a moratorium to stop fracking from taking place in the Marcellus Shale in upstate New York.
“This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t extract the gas,” Castelli explained Wednesday. “This is only to say that unless and until such time as we can prove definitively, by science and not emotion, that that gas can be extracted safely, that we should have a moratorium against this extraction. And if it can’t be extracted safely, then we should not extract it at all.”
The endorsement may give Castelli somewhat of a boost as he looks to hold on in a district in which Democrats have nearly a two-to-one advantage in voter registration. Officials from both parties agree the district – now the 89th but becoming the 93rd – will be one of the most competitive assembly districts in Westchester County.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
