New Haven Independent

The national League of Conservation Voters came to the Mark Twain House in Hartford to endorse Lieberman for re-election. LCV keeps track of the voting records of every member of Congress, and Lieberman has done very well — his score is a lifetime 86 percent. In his introduction, LCV’s vice president for political affairs, Tony Massaro, listed just a few of Joe’s accomplishments: He was a key sponsor of the Clean Air Act amendments; he helped create Connecticut’s first national park at Weir Farm in Ridgefield; and he’s fought successfully to keep drilling out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He’s also been one of the most outspoken elected officials on the need to confront climate change; he and Sen. John McCain have introduced a bill to that effect.

His rating isn’t higher, Massaro told me, because absences count as No votes, and Lieberman missed a few votes while running for vice president in 2000 and after his mother died recently. (An email that came in this morning from a supporter of Lieberman challenger Ned Lamont pointed out that Sen. Chris Dodd and Reps Rosa DeLauro and Chris Shays— two Dems and a Republican — have significantly higher annual ratings from the LCV than Lieberman, as do many senators from other states.)

Lieberman said he learned of the importance of protecting the environment from Genesis in the Bible, where God tells Adam and Eve that he put them in the garden to work and protect it. He thanked LCV for its good “report card” and said he intended to keep leading on environmental issues. He also got in a dig at the Bush administration for its lack of leadership in that arena. (Dems who wear buttons with a photo of the infamous smooch President Bush gave Lieberman in thanks for his support on the Iraq war would no doubt scoff at that, but none of them were present.)

One environmental activist said she is a “one trick pony” who supports Lieberman because “he does what I want on environmental issues.” She doesn’t concern herself with any of his other positions.

However, Lieberman stood on the fence for months before joining Dodd, the two senators from New York, and almost the whole Connecticut congressional delegation in opposing the siting of a liquified natural gas terminal in the middle of Long Island Sound.

Bob Maddox, who works for a renewable energy firm, said he’s glad Lieberman supports renewable energy and climate change legislation. But he added, “I would personally encourage the senator not to look at the nuclear option. There are still several difficulties with nuclear energy and our focus really needs to be on energy conservation and the full-scale development of renewable energy.”

“Nuclear power is — if we can guarantee its safety — clean,” Lieberman said in subsequent remarks to reporters. “It doesn’t put greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”

That’s just the problem, say opponents of nuclear power — there are no safety guarantees. And the new plants would require billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies.