Press Releases

LCV Action Fund Endorses Three Environmental Champions in Maryland

Jun 1, 2016

WASHINGTON, DC—The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund, which works to elect candidates who will implement sound environmental policies, announced its endorsement today of three candidates running for open seats in Maryland:  U.S. Representative Chris Van Hollen (MD-08) for U.S. Senate, former Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown for Maryland’s fourth Congressional District and State Senator Jamie Raskin for Maryland’s eighth Congressional District.   

“Maryland has been on the forefront of tackling climate change – one of the most important issues facing our country and world –  and each of these three public servants have been a key part of that,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski.  “Families across Maryland and the country will be well-served by having the bold vision and leadership of Chris Van Hollen, Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin in Congress.”

“In a state known for our natural treasures like the Chesapeake Bay, we must elect leaders who will protect our air and water,” said Maryland League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Karla Raettig. “Our state has taken great strides in preserving our environment and addressing climate change, and Chris Van Hollen, Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin have always stood up and led the way on these efforts. As we continue to work to protect all families and invest in clean energy jobs in every community across our great state, they will be incredible champions for us on Capitol Hill.”    

“It has been an honor to work in partnership with the League of Conservation Voters to protect the Chesapeake Bay, fight for a healthy environment, and confront climate change,” said Congressman Van Hollen. “Working together, we can promote good paying clean energy jobs that put people to work while confronting the risings threats and costs of climate change.”

“I thank the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund for their support and I look forward to working with them in Congress,” said Lt. Governor Brown. “I am committed to doing our part to address climate change, strengthen our air and water quality, and preserve our National Parks. Together, we’ll work to ensure future generations can enjoy a clean and healthy environment.” 

“This is a great honor,” said Senator Raskin. “LCV Action Fund is a front-line champion for breaking the carbon stranglehold in our economics and our politics. I look forward to working with LCV and its over one million members across America to zero out carbon production, accelerate wind and solar and other renewable energies, and organize to weather the brutal processes of climate change.  I am happy to be endorsed by LCV Action Fund along with other strong environmentalist leaders from Maryland.” 

Representative Chris Van Hollen (MD-08) is running for election to the United States Senate representing Maryland in the open seat being vacated by Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski. Van Hollen has served Maryland’s 8th Congressional District since 2003, and, before that, spent four years in the state House of Delegates and eight years in the state Senate. Throughout his long career in public service, he has been a consistent and leading voice for the environment. Early in his time in the state legislature, he made protecting the Chesapeake Bay a top priority, authoring the law that banned drilling in parts of the Bay watershed. In Congress, he cosponsored the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act. Van Hollen has served as the co-chairman of the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change, the bipartisan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force.  He has been a longtime leader in combating climate change, introducing the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act, and helping lead support in Congress for the Clean Power Plan and the Green Climate Fund. He has also introduced the National Home Energy Savings Revolving Fund Act, which provides funds to local governments for use in making loans to homeowners to make energy-efficiency upgrades, as well as legislation to create a government-backed “Green Bank” to reinvigorate the market for funding renewable energy projects. As a state senator, in 2000, he successfully sponsored a bill that was at the time the most comprehensive package of tax incentives to promote clean energy anywhere in the country. Representative Van Hollen has achieved an impressive 98 percent lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard.

Anthony Brown is running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives representing Maryland’s 4th Congressional District being vacated by Representative Donna Edwards. In 2006, Brown was elected Lieutenant Governor of Maryland after serving eight years in the Maryland House of Delegates, where he rose to the positon of Majority Whip. Brown is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and bravely served our nation in Operation Iraqi Freedom. During the O’Malley-Brown administration, Maryland passed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act to reduce climate pollutant emissions by 25 percent from 2006 levels by 2020. The state is on track to meet its goal while creating tens of thousands of new jobs and over a billion dollars in economic benefits. Brown also served as the administration’s point person on many significant environmental initiatives, including working with the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus to build support for the Maryland Offshore Wind Act, creating a fund to help small and minority-owned businesses participate in the clean energy economy, and a task force to assess the viability of clean energy certificate programs at the state’s historically black colleges and universities. As a member of the House of Delegates from 2000 to 2006, Lt. Governor Brown earned an 84 percent score on Maryland LCV’s Scorecard.

Jamie Raskin is running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives representing Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, a seat being vacated by Representative Chris Van Hollen. Raskin was first elected to the Maryland State Senate in 2006 and became Majority Whip in 2012. A constitutional law and legislation professor at American University, Raskin has been a strong champion for Maryland’s environment and addressing the climate crisis. In the state senate, he was the lead sponsor on a number of significant environmental bills, including the Green Maryland Act, which compels the state to look for environmentally-friendly products when making state purchasing decisions; the most important stormwater legislation in more than a decade; and the renowned “Jane Lawton Farm-to-Schools” law, which connects county school systems to local farmers to provide school children with local produce. He introduced a bill to impose strict legal liability on any fracking operations in the state and another to create a state Climate Change Commission. He is a member of the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area and co-chaired the Maryland Clean Car and Energy Policy Task Force from 2007 to 2010. Senator Raskin has achieved an impressive 98 percent lifetime score on Maryland LCV’s Scorecard.  

Van Hollen, Brown and Raskin are all 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 Van Hollen for Senate, Anthony Brown for Congress and Jamie Raskin for Congress.