David Catalfamo Fights For Fracking, Fossil Fuels & Dirty Energy:
When conducting research on lobbyist David Catalfamo (R), who is now running for the State Assembly in New York’s 113th District, I encountered a page on some of Catalfamo’s former lobbying activities at the government watchdog site, LittleSis.org. According to data obtained by LittleSis.org from both the State of New York and the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), Mr. Catalfamo lobbied on behalf of both gas and fracking interests at the state capital in Albany from 2009 though 2013.
Why should this be of any major concern to 113th Assembly District voters? Because Catalfamo still refuses to discuss any of the specific details of what he actually did for the fossil fuel clients that he once represented, the voters now are basically being left in the dark about potential conflicts of interest or who he might be beholden to if elected to the state legislature next month. In addition, we still don’t even known much yet at all about some of Catalfamo’s other potential lobbying activities. As a matter of fact, Catalfamo almost always fails to acknowledge or even mention in any of his major campaign literature that he now is employed as the Managing Director of Park Strategies, a major national lobbying firm based in Washington D.C.
All in all, Catalfamo’s ongoing silence about his current occupation raises some serious questions about whether he would even maintain the bare minimum level of transparency that one would expect from their local state representative. What makes matters even worse, is that Catalfamo is now benefiting from biased and unfair coverage in the local newspapers and television stations because most of the media outlets in the Albany, New York market have been taken over by major conglomerates, such as Sinclair, Hubbard and Hearst, which are all big contributors to the national Republican Party and to conservative political causes. An artice today from the Hearst-owned Albany Times Union by Wendy Libertore did a major disservice to voters by failing to even mention one time that Catalfamo is now the director of a major national lobbying firm and also omitted any citation of his prior work serving fracking and dirty fossil fuel clients.
Fortunately, we already are fortunate enough to be represented by someone with a proven track record in the New York State Assembly that doesn’t have to run or hide from their record.
Carrie Woerner Fights For Our Environment & Our Public Health:
There really is no public official between Saratoga Springs and the Canadian border that champions the environment like State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D) does. To a certain extent, Woerner is somewhat of an outlier in a region of the state where many of the local politicians are right-wing ideologues that are bought off by big dirty energy and regularly receive criticism for their poor records on environmental and public health issues. Two notable examples of this are Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R) and State Senator Daphne Jordan (R), who was just awarded the annual “Oil Slick Award” from the statewide watchdog group, Environmental Advocates Action of New York.
This week, Assemblywoman Woerner gained national attention from the highly respected Pew Trusts for her work on legislation that would establish a clean fuel standard in New York State. Woerner states that it is logical for us to transition away from subsidizing dirty fossil “fuels that are causing all of these health issues” and reallocate government funding towards “a program that ultimately saves money in the health care sector and keeps people healthier.”
From The Pew Trusts, October 19, 2020:
““We're spending upwards of $600 billion [in the United States] each year to address the health outcomes associated with breathing bad air, and most of that bad air comes from the transportation sector,” said New York Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, a Democrat who has put forward legislation that would create a clean fuel standard in that state.
“Is it smarter to fund a program that ultimately saves money in the health care sector and keeps people healthier, or is it smarter to continue to subsidize fuels that are causing all of these health issues?””
This November we have a clear choice between an established lawmaker who’s already proven herself to be a champion of our local environment or an ally of dirty energy who likely has the potential to become just one more recipient of the “Oil Slick Award” from our region.