Smythe raps Sen. Serino over clean energy vote a year ago
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A Democratic state Senate candidate has lashed out against her GOP opponent for voting against a climate change prevention law a year ago.
But the campaign of Sen. Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park, says Karen Smythe is out of touch and ought to stop acting “childishly.”
Smythe and Serino are battling it out for the 41st Senate District seat. The two faced off in 2018 and Serino narrowly won.
In a press release, Smythe’s campaign said this week that the challenger “calls out Senator Sue Serino on her vote against last year’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), a bill that set the most aggressive clean energy and carbon reduction goals in the nation.”
The bill was passed by the Democratically-controlled state Legislature in 2019. It was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, in July 2019.
“Climate change is real and Americans across the country are already suffering its negative impacts,” Smythe said in a statement. “Unsurprisingly, Sue Serino voted AGAINST the CLCPA, because she — like Republicans across the country— refuses to acknowledge the science that tells us our planet is fast approaching its tipping point.”
“Our communities’
health and economy cannot afford to be represented by a climate change denier,” Smythe said.
Candice Giove, a Serino campaign spokeswoman, said Smythe is off base.
“Could Karen be any more out of touch?” Giove said. “She’s talking about a bill that passed over a year ago that will do absolutely nothing to help Hudson Valley families who are struggling to put food on the table now.”
“If the Governor doesn’t immediately help small businesses and the thousands they employ, we won’t be able to afford climate change initiatives or anything else,” Giove said. “While Karen is busy childishly ‘calling her out,’ Sue is busy working tirelessly for our neighbors.”
But Smythe said the matter is current.
“From the fires in the west to the derecho storm that ravaged Iowa last month to Hurricane Sally, which is today threatening the Gulf Coast with historic flooding, American lives are being upended— or worse, lost altogether,” Smythe said. “Right here in the Hudson Valley, severe storms are hurting farms, businesses, and residents, leaving thousands without power for days on end.”
“As Senator, I will seize the opportunity to work in tandem with the goals of the CLCPA to re-ignite our economy by making the Hudson Valley synonymous with green technology jobs,” Smythe said. “I look forward to working in partnership with officials at the local and federal level to bring these well-paying jobs to our region.”