Zwicker Picks Up Endorsement of NJ League of Conservation Voters in State Assembly Race

Zwicker
Zwicker

Andrew Zwicker, a Democratic candidate for the New Jersey Assembly in the 16th District, has been endorsed by the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters.

Zwicker, who holds a Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University, heads the

“We are delighted to add Andrew Zwicker to the list of candidates we are endorsing in the November 2015 elections,” said Ed Potosnak, the executive director of the League of Conservation.

“Our rigorous endorsement process vets candidates based on their record and leadership on environmental issues. Andrew has been involved in research on, and advocacy for, clean energy for more than two decades,” he said. “In addition, he is a science educator who has a talent for inspiring young people to focus on the environment around them.”

Zwicker said one of the reasons he decided to run is that “Chris Christie is eviscerating environmental protections in the state of New Jersey—with the support of my Republican opponents.”

The Republican incumbents in the 16th District, Jack Ciattarelli and Donna Simon, have among the lowest grades in the Assembly on the League’s environmental scorecards.

“New Jersey deserves better,” said Zwicker, who opposes the Penn-East Pipeline and has criticized Christie for withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cooperative effort supported by nine states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He has also criticized Christie for vetoing a bill that would ban the storage of toxic chemicals from hydraulic fracturing in the state, for settling a state lawsuit with Exxon for $225 million when remediation was estimated at $8.9 billion, and for supporting a 22-mile gas pipeline through the preserved New Jersey Pinelands.

“Both Simon and Ciattarelli, who are part of Christie’s New Jersey Presidential Leadership Team, supported the governor in all of these initiatives,” said Zwicker. “We need legislators in Trenton who will stand up to Christie and the party bosses who are desecrating New Jersey’s natural resources.”