I would like to respond to the recent letter to the editor from Sen. Olympia Snowe concerning the “negative campaign” by unnamed “out-of-state … groups” against First District Rep. James Longley (BDN, Sept. 24).

The Sierra Club of Maine has been the focus of a name calling campaign by Rep. Longley. We pointed out that he has the worst environmental score for the Maine congressional delegation in over 20 years (according to the non-partisan League of Conservation Voters). Mr. Longley responded by calling us “environmental thugs.” Maine Sierra Club pointed out that he voted to weaken the Clean Water Act and he called us “elitists.” And when our organization completed a detailed report proving he had received nearly $125,000 from political action committees that worked to weaken environmental regulations, he responded by dismissing us as an “extremist organization.”

Why our efforts to expose Mr. Longley’s terrible record on the environment with facts and figures is viewed as “negative campaigning” while his name calling is considered, by some, to be justifiable, is a trifle difficult to believe.

Olympia Snowe and Bill Cohen were the two highest scoring Republicans in the Senate last year on LCV’s environmental scorecard. Despite severe pressures from the worst environmental Congress in recent history, they tried to vote their conscience.

Maine Sierra Club endorsed Bill Cohen in 1990 and we are sad to see him leave. The 2,500 resident volunteers and members of the Maine Sierra Club urge Sen. Snowe to help teach Mr. Longley to be a good steward of the earth like environmental hero John Chafee, Republican senator from Rhode Island. Joan Saxe Maine Sierra Club