Activists: Reinstate Top N.Y. Environmental Official

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Environmentalists are calling on New York's governor to reinstate the state environmental commissioner, who was fired Thursday after he criticized budget cuts.

Pete Grannis says he was booted as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation after writing a memo saying staff reductions implemented by Gov. David Paterson had left environmental programs "hanging by a thread."

The memo was made public Wednesday by the Times Union newspaper of Albany.

Sierra Club official Martha Holly Loew says it doesn't make sense to fire an official she calls "honest" and "reliable" only months before Paterson's term ends.

The New York Public Interest Research Group and several other groups held a news conference Friday to say they want the governor to reinstate Grannis.

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Information from: Times Union, http://www.timesunion.com
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