For Immediate Release – August 6, 2012
Contact: Trey Pollard (202) 495-3058 (DC)
Anthony Aalto (808) 234-9779 (Hawai'i)
Sierra Club Launches Radio and Online Ad Effort to Contrast Records of Gabbard and Hannemann
Honolulu, HI – Today, the Sierra Club announced the launch of a new radio and online ad campaign in Hawai’i’s Second Congressional District to contrast Tulsi Gabbard’s business background, military experience, and strong environmental record with Mufi Hannemann’s history of pay-to-play politics and environmental mismanagement. In the week leading up to the highly-contested primary, the Sierra Club will follow-up on a major mail campaign by investing significant resources to reach voters online and over the radio airwaves.
A new 60-second radio ad is already being aired in Hawai’i, Kauai, and Maui Counties. The ad will air more than 1,700 times over 24 stations until Election day.
Sierra Club has also launched a geo-targeted ad campaign that will make 850,000 contacts online, linking voters to a new website with information about both candidates.
“As a businesswoman, a veteran, and an elected official who fought to protect Hawai‘i’s natural legacy, Tulsi Gabbard has proven she’s the kind of leader we can trust to create jobs and stand up to special interests,” said Anthony Aalto, Chair of the Sierra Club, O‘ahu Group. “In sharp contrast, Mufi Hannemann has an abysmal environmental record, a paper trail of bullying personal attacks and a record of siding with wealthy campaign contributors. We need a new leader to protect our environment, our health, and our economy -- and Tulsi Gabbard has the knowledge and the experience to do just that.”
The ads and website compare Gabbard’s strong environmental background and Hannemann’s abysmal record as mayor of Honolulu, highlighting Gabbard’s history of protecting the environment and health of Hawai’i’s families. At age 19, Gabbard co-founded the non-profit Healthy Hawai‘i coalition to preserve Hawai‘i’s watersheds and improve the health of local communities and families. As a city councilwoman and state legislator, Gabbard personally led the volunteer cleanup effort at city beaches after flooding at the Waimanalo Gulch landfill released dangerous medical waste and she wrote and passed a new city law to keep plastic bags from polluting Honolulu’s coastal waters. Gabbard also volunteered to deploy for two tours of duty in the Middle East, serving as Captain and Company Commander in the National Guard.
Meanwhile, as Mayor, Hannemann ignored warnings about the sewage mains that burst and discharged more than 50 million gallons of raw sewage into the Ala Wai canal and the landfill that spilled medical waste onto Hawai’i beaches – two of the worst environmental disasters in Hawai’i’s history.
Hannemann’s woeful environmental record as mayor also includes:
- Stopping the Kahe wind proposal;
- Cancelled curbside recycling programs;
- Opposed measure that would have made job-creating financing for solar and efficiency improvements more accessible
- Wasted millions of taxpayer dollars opposing vital upgrades to sewage collection and treatment facilities;
- In the face of strong community opposition, pushed for the massive Turtle Bay expansion and urban sprawl over productive farmlands in central O'ahu
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Paid for by Sierra Club Independent Action, www.sierraclub.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. |