QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

“We have a duty in this generation to make sure that the following generations are taken care of. We need new legislation around clean water and clean air to do that.”

– Candidate Sharice Davids (KS-03) highlights how she will fight for environmental protections during Tuesday’s television debate.

“I can’t wait to get to DC to stand up for common sense. I’ve heard from thousands of people who don’t want drilling off our coast. They’re not scientists — but they believe in science.”

– Congressional Candidate Mike Levin (CA-49) talking to a room full of supporters about how he will put people before polluters.

LCV IN THE NEWS:

USA Today: From climate change to conservation, environmentalists shift green battle to states

Roll Call: League of Conservation Voters’ Political Arm Shows Some Midterm Muscle

McClatchy: Green groups spend record sums to flip ‘most anti-environmental Congress in history’

NPR: Why More Than $2 Million Has Been Pumped Into New Mexico’s Race For Land Commissioner

BuzzFeed: In Florida, Republican Candidates Are Talking About Climate Change — Because They Have To

New York Times: Five Midterm Votes That Could  an Outsize Impact on Climate Change

The Hill: Environmental groups shift strategies to win support for candidates in midterms

Washington Post: Democrats actually have a shot at winning on energy policy next week — in the states

Washington Post: Some Republicans in close races are (ever so slightly) changing their tune on climate change

Washington Post: Congress thinks the public is way more conservative than it actually is. Deep-pocketed lobbyists are to blame, according to new research.

Utica Observer-Dispatch: LCV Victory Fund names Tenney to ‘Dirty Dozen’ list

ThinkProgress: Republican House candidate touts old award from green group that recently gave him failing grade

InsideClimateNews: In Iowa Farm Country, These Candidates Are Taking on Climate Deniers

OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY:

LCV’s state affiliates are hard at work protecting the environment and fighting climate change in the states. Here’s what people are reading across the country:

NBC 15 (WI): Groups ramping up spending in tight legislative races

Washington Post (AZ): The hottest fight in American politics? Arizona’s snackdown over solar power.

ThinkProgress (MI): Environmental groups are throwing their weight behind voting rights in Michigan

The Columbian (WA): Carbon tax measure: Green initiative push has some Orange in it

The Portsmouth Herald (NH): Possible 2020 contenders Booker, Merkley visit Seacoast

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4 DAYS UNTIL THE MIDTERMS: Election Day is right around the corner and we’re paving the way for the green wave. This week, LCV Victory Fund and state affiliates announced an increase in our largest ever election cycle investment – $80 million. From ads to field programs, our work is helping to ensure we elect the most environmentally friendly Congress and decision makers in states across the country. Our priorities have included: 26 House races, 6 Senate races, 10 Governors races, 16 state legislative chambers, 4 utility commissions, and 1 lands commissioner race. Check out our full pre-election memo here.

CLOSING ARGUMENT: After a year and a half of Trump and Congress’ unprecedented rollbacks of public health, climate, and public lands protections, and significant on-the-ground effort from the environmental community to build opposition, voters are now primed to show up at the polls and reject the Trump agenda, which is designed to benefit corporate polluters at the cost of public health. Watch a quick video showing our work this year.

BRAVE THE #GREENWAVE: An unprecedented coalition of environmental groups have joined forces to elect a pro-environment majority to Congress. LCV, EDF Action, National Wildlife Federation Action Fund, NRDC Action Fund and Sierra Club are working together to engage their memberships and get out the vote for environmental champions in California, Florida, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington.

CELEBS SOUND THE ALARM: LCV Victory Fund teamed up with celebrities like Lance Bass, Richard Schiff, Amy Smart, Eric Balfour, Wendie Malick, Malin Akerman, Carter Oosterhouse, Scottie Thompson, Leonor Varela, Madeline Zima, and Constance Zimmer to get out the vote on a new social media campaign. In the video, called “Sound the Alarm,” they each urge people to vote because of the incredible environmental stakes of this year’s election.

HITTING THE AIRWAVES: As part of our biggest-ever investment in the 2018 midterm elections, LCV Victory Fund will continue to air several ads through Election Day in races where candidates and elected officials are siding with corporate polluters over the environment and their constituents. Here’s what’s new this week:

BAD BRUCE: LCV Victory Fund announced on Tuesday the launch of a $262,000 TV ad against Maine Representative Bruce Poliquin. The ad, called “Choices,” shows voters that Poliquin has sided with corporate polluters, while eliminating protections for people with preexisting health conditions. His LCV Lifetime Scorecard is an atrocious 17 percent. Watch the ad here.

FACT CHECKED: Florida Senate candidate Rick Scott was put on the spot on Fox News regarding his anti-climate record, using LCVVF’s ad to call him out. So our SVP for Campaigns Pete Maysmith corrected the record to show how Scott has been attempting to “greenwash” his way to the Senate by tricking voters about his environmental record. Scott was the inaugural member of this year’s Dirty Dozen.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT: Across the country, vulnerable Republicans are flipping their rhetoric on climate change — while still supporting dangerous anti-environment policies. LCV President Gene Karpinski called out the “greenwashing” in a new Medium post and asks voters to support candidates who will “walk the walk” on climate action. In the piece, he says: “there are candidates campaigning on their belief in science, on clean energy jobs, on keeping protected public lands in public hands, and on making public health and safety our top priority. They know it will take more than words to slow the climate crisis and undo Trump’s myriad of environmental rollbacks  —  it’ll take a new green majority, one that puts people ahead of polluters.”

DON’T FALL FOR IT: Many anti-environmental candidates have been greenwashing their records. The Energy 202 today goes through some examples and notes that voters are riled-up, “among other things, at the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental rules and a burgeoning body of scientific research linking the increasingly intense wildfires and hurricanes affecting constituents to climate change.”

VOTERS DEMAND ACTION: A new poll by the Washington Post-Schar School says that a majority of voters in battleground districts want action on climate change. According to the poll, 59 percent of voters in competitive districts want the U.S. to do more to fight climate change — that’s higher than the percentage of voters who want tougher border security.

DEAR CONGRESS: Another study published in the New York Times this week found that congressional aides who listen to industry lobbyists grossly underestimate their constituents’ support for climate action. Which congressional offices understand the people best? The ones who listen to organizations that represent real people — like LCV.

EVERY RACE COUNTS: As congressional and governors’ races bask in the media spotlight, some of the most critical races for protecting our environment are deservedly receiving more attention. For example, our affiliate Conservation Voters New Mexico Verde Voters Fund is working to elect Stephanie Garcia Richard as the state’s land commissioner. If elected, Garcia Richard would manage 9 million acres of land and encourage more clean energy development — catch the race profiled on NPR.

ARIZONA, TOO: Chispa Arizona PAC is going all-in to elect pro-environmental candidates to the Arizona Corporation Commission, which has power over energy bills and use of clean renewable energy. This week they launched new videos to educate voters about the importance of electing pro-solar candidates to the ACC and published an op-ed in La Voz, Arizona’s largest Spanish-language paper.

30 BY 30: We’re excited about the Wyss Campaign for Nature’s $1 billion dollar investment to help communities and indigenous peoples conserve 30 percent of the natural earth by 2030. The campaign is funded by Hansjörg Wyss who understands the clock is ticking on saving the earth. Funds over the next ten years will work to expand protected Oceans and lands, while investing in scientific research and environmental action across the globe. With brutal attacks on our natural habitats here in the United States, or in countries abroad, the fight against corporate polluters is paramount to having a livable planet.

TROUBLE FOR ZINKE: The Inspector General, a watchdog for the Interior Department, referred a conduct case against Secretary Ryan Zinke to the Department of Justice based on Zinke’s poor ethics. At least one of the inspector general’s probes – which include a look into Zinke’s wife traveling on taxpayers’ dime, a deal in Montana where Zinke is linked to the chairman of Haliburton, and a decision to deny native tribes approval for a casino in Connecticut because of lobbyists in Nevada – is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice.

REPLACING ZINKE: There are rumors that Zinke is planning to exit his position as secretary of Interior after the midterms. We think it’s time to #FireZinke. But second-in-command David Bernhardt, who is a former lobbyist for the oil and gas industry, would head the agency in Zinke’s absence and may be even more destructive to our clean water and public lands.

SAVE US, COURTS: The courts are an important backstop to safeguarding climate change protections. Just this week, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed a lawsuit against polluters for misleading investors by ignoring their own climate research. This is the most recent in a line of lawsuits that are attempting to hold polluters and the Trump administration accountable for rolling back climate progress.

JOIN US NEXT WEDNESDAY: We’ll be giving it our all until polls close on Tuesday. But mark your calendars for next Wednesday, when we’ll come together with our partners in the environmental movement to talk about what the election results mean for battling the climate crisis and checking the Trump administration’s toxic agenda. Stay tuned for details — and yes, there will be coffee (and snacks).

COMING UP:

NOVEMBER 6 — Election Day!

NOVEMBER 7 — Environmental Movement Post-election Presser

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Paid for by LCV Victory Fund, www.lcvvictoryfund.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.