Longtime environmental activists DON HENLEY (drummer for the Eagles), MINNIE DRIVER ("Good Will Hunting," "Grosse Point Blank") and SHARON LAWRENCE ("NYPD Blue," "Desperate Housewives") endorsed State Assembly candidate Kelly Hayes-Raitt this week, citing her strong, authentic leadership for environmental protection.
They join environmental/social justice activists Martin Sheen, Jackson Browne, Ed Begley, Jr., Alexandra Paul, John Densmore, Maria Bello, James Cromwell, Wendie Malick, James Garner, Paul Haggis, Casey Kasem, Mimi Kennedy, Richard Lewis and Bradley Whitford in endorsing Hayes-Raitt, who is running for the seat Fran Pavley will be vacating. Election day is June 6, and the district includes Oak Park, Oxnard, Pt. Hueneme, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Encino, Topanga, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica.
Hayes-Raitt, co-founder of Heal the Bay and former executive director of the Coalition for Clean Air, was Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy's statewide environmental leader fighting offshore oil drilling. Hayes-Raitt testified this week at two State Lands Commission hearings in Malibu and Oxnard opposing one of five proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) platforms:
"I will not rest until we have solar panels on every roof in California," Hayes-Raitt said to cheering standing room-only crowds. "Accidents happen, but only if we keep repeating our accident-prone past. After 25 years of fighting the oil and gas industries, I'm tired of talking about energy conservation: It's time we talk about energy independence from the oil and gas industries. California has the brains, resources and sunshine to fully develop clean, renewable, decentralized energy."
The Sierra Club, Vote the Coast and Clean Water Action also endorse Hayes-Raitt. “Kelly is the only authentic environmental leader running in this race,” said Emil Lawton, chair emeritus of the political committee of the Los Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club. “Her environmental legacy is already impressive. We interviewed all the viable candidates and found Kelly to be not only the best environmental leader, but the hardest working candidate we've seen in a long time,” continued Lawton, who chaired the interview committee. “Kelly is also the only viable candidate to voluntarily limit her campaign spending because she supports Clean Money Campaigns so whole-heartedly. Kelly certainly 'walks the walk.'”
On Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, 10 children, aged 3 to 10 years, will join Kelly in planting flowers at the Agoura Hills Senior Retreat, 5217 Chesebro Rd, from 10:00 am to noon. For more information, please call (310) 392-8715 or visit www.KellyForAssembly.com