Released on September 21, 2009

Mt. Vernon resident Scott Surovell, candidate for the House of Delegates in the 44th District, has received the endorsement from the Sierra Club and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.   The endorsement follows a lifetime of work from Surovell on environmental causes.

"We are very fortunate to have Scott Surovell as a candidate for House Delegate in the 44th district,” said Tyla Matteson, the Political Chair for the Virginia chapter.  “Sierra Club endorses him wholeheartedly, as he will be a strong advocate for protecting and preserving the natural resources of Virginia.”

"Our waters are polluted.  The cost of energy is increasing.  Families are struggling," said Lisa Guthrie, Executive Director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.  "We need leaders in Richmond like Scott Surovell who will work toward real solutions to these problems to help protect our air, water and land for Virginia's families and generations to come."

“I am honored to have the support from the Sierra Club and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters,” Surovell announced.  “The environmental needs in Mt. Vernon are tremendous.  I’ve seen first-hand that the parks and rivers where I grew up playing have now become victim to pollution and watershed, I want to thank these important organizations for entrusting me to turn this around.
Surovell has focused much of his life on the outdoors and environment.  As a child he developed an interest in the outdoors exploring Mount Vernon’s streams and the Potomac River.  Surovell was a volunteer at Huntley Meadows Park from age 14-18 working on the Park’s bluebird monitoring program.  He has canoed the Shenandoah, Cowpasture, and New Rivers in Virginia.  An avid hiker, he has hiked 26 of the 44 “High Peaks” in the Adirondack Mountains in New York along with many mountains in Virginia such as Old Rag and the Peaks of Otter.  In 1996, Surovell rode a bicycle 4,200 miles across the United States in 46 days.

Surovell furthered his interest in environmental issues with two years of unpaid service to the Virginia Environmental Law Journal where he served as Executive Editor his third year of law school at the University of Virginia School of Law.  Surovell also interned at the Natural Resources Defense Council in 1995 assisting with efforts to rebuff attacks on various federal environmental laws during the session of Congress immediately following the 1995 Republican “takeover.”

Surovell said, “I believe that improving our air, water and quality of life will require more than community trash cleanups and tax incentives.  Virginia ranks 50th in natural resources spending in the United States.  The Commonwealth should be leading on these issues, not fall in last place.”  As a leader in environmental issues, Surovell is committed to:
•    Focus development around public transit stations and on walkable communities.
•    Give local government the authority to adopt meaningful tree ordinances.
•    Mandate energy and water-conserving and low-impact development techniques.
•    Continue incentives for consumers to purchase energy efficient appliances.
•    Provide state tax credits for installation of solar panels, geothermal heat pump systems, and other energy saving home improvements.
•    Encourage informational home energy audits (similar to a home inspection) upon the transfer of a dwellings between parties;
•    Implement the recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
•    Expand the use of public transit and alternate modes of transportation.
•    Create incentives to transition to a clean energy economy and use more of Virginia’s resources such as offshore wind and solar.
•    Explore more natural landscaping and native plants along Virginia’s roads to reduce taxpayers’ mowing and maintenance expenses.

For more information on Scott Surovell and his environmental policy, click here.