The New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF), the Garden State chapter of Clean Water Action, is endorsing Chris Christie as the environmental candidate in this year's governor's race - the first ever for a Republican in a statewide race.

• View Vote Environment Committee Member Sharon Finlayson's Statement on the Endorsement
• View Ben Forest's Statement on the Endorsement
• View NJEF's Press Release

This decision was not made lightly. It was the result of a long, very difficult, rigorous process conducted by NJEF's Vote Environment Committee (VEC), which takes our political endorsement work very seriously and believes it to be crucial to the advancement of environmental protection in New Jersey.

For many months, VEC has been concentrating on the gubernatorial race, listening, analyzing and discussing the race and the candidates, while keeping our focus on environmental issues.

The VEC conducted extensive research and surveys on all the candidates, collected questionnaires, and conducted interviews with Governor Jon Corzine, Chris Christie, and Independent candidate Chris Daggett.

In making our endorsement decision we weigh a number of factors, but we always stress two: the candidate's commitment to the environment and his willingness to work with us on our issues.

Out of all the candidates, Christie has laid out by far the most impressive green agenda in this year's race. In addition, he consistently expressed a strong commitment to the environment and certainly demonstrated a willingness to work with us.

We also believe our endorsement was necessary to create a road block against the current legislature, the most anti-environmental in recent history. The Governor, as leader of the majority, has a responsibility to work hard to turn this around, a responsibility Corzine has shrunk away from.

Governor Corzine has also repeatedly broken promises, weakened important environmental and public health protections even when the science and economics justified stronger protections, and has made only weak, vague statements about his commitment to improve over the next 4 years.

In contrast, Chris Christie has committed to:

• Strengthen the Category 1 (C1) program, weakened by the Corzine Administration, to protect New Jersey's most important waters in his 1st 100 days;
• Renew and strengthen the Garden State Preservation Trust, which has been repeatedly undermined by Governor Corzine;
• Stop the fish slaughter resulting from flawed cooling systems at the Salem and Oyster Creek nuclear plants in his 1st 100 days -- the Governor has committed and then not done this; and
• Oppose the proposed Linden Coal Plant, recognizing the environmental injustice placed on a community that is already overburdened by pollution -- the Governor has refused to oppose this though it costs $5 billion, which if invested in clean renewable and energy efficiency efforts instead would produce more energy and reduce rather than aggravate the global warming threat.

In addition, other key planks of the Christie environmental platform that stands in stark contrast to the Corzine record include but are not limited to:

• Requiring retrofits of diesel engines used under state contracts - this will save lives, reduce health care costs and avoid days lost at school and work but it has been rejected by Governor Corzine;
• Increase resources for, and enforcement of, the state's environmental laws;
• Clean up Barnegat Bay with stronger laws and rules to stop the nitrogen and phosphorus that is poisoning the Bay;
• Opposing the environmental and economic boondoggle that is the Delaware Deepening, over which the Governor ceded control to Pennsylvania; and
• Restoring NJDEP's Division of Science and Research which was eliminated under Corzine.

We expect our political leaders to take on our environmental issues and problems, and provide good solutions that are in the best interest of the environment and our public who depend upon clean air, water and soil. When that fails, it is time for change.

We believe that the change we seek will be found in Chris Christie.

We need a backstop from the governor's office. Someone who is not afraid of controversy and saying "no more" in the name of protecting the environment, public health, ethics and creating a green economy for all. And we believe that Chris Christie is such a person.