WASHINGTON, DC—The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund, which works to elect candidates who will implement sound environmental policies, announced its endorsement of Don Beyer for re-election to U.S. Congress (VA-08). After campaigning on the urgent need to address the climate crisis, Beyer has quickly established himself as an environmental leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Congressman Don Beyer has consistently said that climate change is one of the top issues facing our nation and world, and has not wasted one second in jumping full-force into the effort to make Congress act on this crisis,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski. “I’m proud to personally call Don Beyer my Congressman and to have someone with his impressive experience and enthusiasm fighting alongside the League of Conservation Voters.”

“Virginia has so much potential to lead our country in addressing climate change and moving towards a clean energy economy – and few of our political leaders understand this as well as Congressman Beyer,” said Virginia League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Michael Town. “He has been a tremendous addition to the Commonwealth’s Congressional delegation; we know he can always be relied on to protect our air, land, water and wildlife.”   

“I am delighted to again have the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, an essential leader for environmental values and policies,” said Congressman Beyer. “I will continue to work alongside LCV for environmental education and progress.”

Congressman Beyer has a long and distinguished record of public service. He is a successful businessman, served two terms as Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor from 1990 to 1998, helped lead President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and served as United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Beyer’s long record of environmental leadership includes serving as a member of then-Governor Tim Kaine’s Commission on Climate Change and implementing sustainability measures at the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland that led to 40 percent carbon pollution reductions. A member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) and Safe Climate Caucus, he has been a fierce advocate for the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which sets the first ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants.

Beyer has used his positions on the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to champion the environment, including opposing drilling off Virginia’s coast and introducing legislation to ban seismic airgun blasting. He has continually defended clean water policies from Congressional attack, and with Representative Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), he introduced an amendment to the America COMPETES Act to try to keep reducing greenhouse gases as one of the goals of ARPA-E research. He also introduced two amendments to the National Energy Security Corridors Act to protect national parks from pipeline development.

Representative Beyer earned an impressive 97 percent score on LCV’s 2015 National Environmental Scorecard. 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.

Beyer is 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.  In the 2013-2014 election cycle, LCVAF endorsed over 70 candidates and raised and donated almost $6 million dollars via GiveGreen. Over the last several years, our efforts have also helped elevate climate change and clean energy as critical issues in key elections. 

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Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and authorized by Friends of Don Beyer.