Two green groups back Feingold in Wisconsin Senate race

Two major environmental groups on Wednesday endorsed Democrat Russ Feingold to take back his former Senate seat.

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund and the Sierra Club said Feingold, who is challenging Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), has a strong history in fighting climate change and supporting clean energy.

{mosads}“We need a leader like Russ Feingold back in the Senate,” Tiernan Sittenfeld, head of government affairs for LCV Action Fund, said in a statement.

“Russ will fight for what’s best for Wisconsin families, for our planet, and for our health for generations to come.”

Bill Davis, head of the Wisconsin chapter of the Sierra Club, said Feingold’s “commitment to conservation and fighting climate change stands in stark contrast to Ron Johnson’s appalling voting record for big polluters.”

Feingold welcomed the endorsements, saying in a statement that “Wisconsin cannot afford more denial or inaction on climate change, and Wisconsinites cannot afford to live in cities where access to safe, clean drinking water is jeopardized.”

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, ranks Wisconsin’s Senate seat as one of the most likely to flip from Republican to Democratic control in this year’s election. It is therefore a top target for Democrats looking to take back the Senate.

Johnson beat Feingold in 2010 after Feingold held the seat for three terms.

Johnson is a climate change skeptic, saying the science on global warming is “far from settled.”