For the first time since its 1987 fight against President Reagan's nomination of Judge Robert H. Bork, the Sierra Club has entered a Supreme Court fray, joining Greenpeace, Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth and the National Environmental Trust to lobby U.S. senators.

"Americans deserve mainstream, independent Justices, with unassailable integrity, who will protect individual rights and freedoms," the Sierra Club says.

"Unfortunately, Judge Alito's opinions and other statements, combined with a disturbing lack of candor since being nominated, show that Judge Alito cannot be trusted to protect those rights and freedoms."

Republicans claim the groups have distorted Alito's record, The Washington Times says, and dismissed their credibility since some of the groups announced their opposition on the day he was nominated.