WASHINGTON, DC—The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) and the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund, announced today their endorsement of candidates from two California districts who are running for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives: Grace Napolitano (CA-32) and Linda Sánchez (CA-38). Congresswomen Sánchez, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and Napolitano, former chair of CHC, have worked hard to address the environmental and public health issues that impact their districts and Latino communities. 

“Linda Sánchez and Grace Napolitano are vocal leaders in Congress, working hard to ensure that everyone has clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and access to open spaces,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski. “Congresswomen Sánchez and Napolitano are staunch advocates for tackling climate change and growing our clean energy economy. They have distinguished themselves as true environmental leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives.” 

“California is already feeling the impacts of climate change including severe drought, more intense wildfires and poor air quality.” said Sarah Rose, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters. “That’s exactly why we need to re-elect champions like Grace Napolitano and Linda Sánchez who have consistently stood up for the interests of Californians against Big Polluters.”   

“Here in the San Gabriel Valley, our communities are struggling with this historic drought in California,” said Napolitano. “Unfortunately, this seems to be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact of climate change. I am committed to working with all entities to protect our water, air, and land for this generation, but, in order to make sure these resources are available for generations to come, we must address the root causes of climate change. As a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I am dedicated to promoting legislation that will build a cleaner and sustainable future for our country.”

“I am honored to receive the support of the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund,” said Sánchez. “Climate change represents one of the greatest threats to our national security and our planet. Our minority communities, especially the community I represent here in Los Angeles County, are at the greatest risk. That is why protecting the environment and preserving our country’s natural resources are two of my top priorities. If we hope to leave future generations with a safer and healthier planet, we must protect the air we breathe and the water we drink right now. Without sound policies and strong environmental protections, our children will inherit polluted skies, contaminated oceans and depleted green spaces.”

Background Information

Congresswoman Napolitano is currently serving her ninth term representing California’s 32nd District and has earned a 91 percent lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard. She is the Ranking Member on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment and serves on the Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water and Power. On these committees, she plays a critical role defending against attacks on environmental laws, working to support the Clean Water Act and the EPA’s recently proposed Clean Water Rule, and advocating for the conservation of parks and public lands.

Linda Sánchez served as the Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO before she was first elected to Congress in 2002.  Sánchez has earned a 92 percent lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard.   As chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, she has a platform to highlight environmental issues in Latino communities, and as part of the 2009 Recovery Act, Sánchez secured $150 million in funding for job training in Latino communities for clean energy jobs. She has been a strong supporter of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, and she was one of only five members of Congress to testify in support of the Clean Power Plan at the EPA’s Washington, DC public hearing in 2014. 

The non-partisan Scorecard is the nationally accepted yardstick used to rate members of Congress on environmental and clean energy issues. Based on key environmental votes in the House and Senate, it is often used by the media to quickly describe a Member’s record. For more information, visit https://scorecard.lcv.org.

Napolitano and Sánchez are both featured on LCV Action Fund’s GiveGreen website, the only bundling website devoted exclusively to raising money for environmental champions for federal office.

About LCV Action Fund

The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund (LCVAF), the connected federal political action committee (PAC) of the League of Conservation Voters, works to elect candidates who will implement sound environmental laws and policies, and defeat those who stand in the way of progress. Since the 1994 election cycle, LCVAF has helped elect and re-elect 69 U.S. Senators and 306 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Over the last several years, our efforts have also helped elevate climate change and clean energy as critical issues in key elections. Some of our recent successes include:

• In the 2013-2014 election cycle, LCVAF endorsed over 70 candidates and raised and donated almost $6 million dollars via GiveGreen. 

• In 2014, LCVAF endorsed U.S. Representative Gary Peters for U.S. Senate from Michigan and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen for re-election in New Hampshire. In their successful campaigns, both spoke out forcefully and passionately about our need to combat climate change and expand the clean energy economy, proving that these are winning issues. 

• In the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, LCVAF provided early endorsements and support to help climate champions like Representatives Julia Brownley (CA-26), Matt Cartwright (PA-17), Ruben Gallego (AZ-7), Pete Aguilar (CA-31) and Jared Huffman (CA-2) win their first primary and general elections to the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and California League of Conservation Voters and authorized by Napolitano for Congress and Committee to Re-elect Linda Sánchez.