Monday morning, the Team Courage Truth Squad gathered outside City Hall in Austin, TX as Lamar Smith held a press conference touting himself as an environmentalist.
The truth is that Smith has never supported the environment, and has been to the right of his party. In 2005, Smith received ratings of "zero" from the League of Conservation Voters, The Texas Environmental Watch Alliance, and The Sierra Club. Now, with a tough challenger who is clearly dedicated to working for the environment, Smith is trying to fool Austin voters into believing he supports the environment as well. Not only is Smith's act dishonest, but it's degrading to Austin voters.
The Truth Squad stole the story on Austin's local KVUE TV, with their message setting the frame for the entire piece. The story highlighted Smith's poor environmental record, and even included an interview with campaign director Nick Lawrie, who commented that Smith's pandering was "too little, too late."
The Truth Squad respectfully displayed signs with Smith's 0% LCV and Sierra Club ratings, as well as the phrase "it's easy to see through Smith's election year pandering." The Truth Squad plans to convene at all of Smith's events across the district as he inevitably continues to pander for votes. We saw what Bilbray was able to do to Francine Busby’s campaign with the GOP’s push to portray themselves as environmentalists. We will not allow that to happen in this race.
This also received coverage in the The Austin American Statesman, Fox TV, and the Austin Chronicle. We will not let Lamar Smith try to fool the voters without being there to tell the truth.
I am dedicated to working in Congress to develop alternative energy sources, to confront the issue of global warming, and conserving our Texas land and water for not just ourselves but also future generations. We owe it to our children to leave them with clean air, clean water, and open space. More can be found at www.conservationwithcourage.com.