©2024 League of Conservation Voters
Your weekly resource to learn what the environmental movement is saying about the news of the day and the political fight of our generation. Be sure to follow LCV on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
“Who wants to invest in a community where the drinking water is poisoned? Why would you buy the property and try to do something with it? You need comprehensive cleanup to set your community up for success. Economic development and diversification, to be successful, take decades. It just really takes committed and robust funding.”
–Jeremy Richardson, manager of the carbon-free electricity program at clean-energy think tank RMI, speaking on their recent report that analyzed bills aimed at easing the transition away from fossil fuels and into the clean energy economy. The report singles out Colorado, Illinois and New Mexico as trailblazers in just-transition laws and enables lawmakers to learn from what has been done before to support a just transition for coal communities.
“This OPEC+ announcement should serve as a reminder to all of us that true American energy independence comes from clean energy.”
— Senator Tom Carper tweeted in response to the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries decision to sharply cut production to support sagging oil prices. The move could deal the struggling global economy another blow and raise politically sensitive pump prices for U.S. drivers.
“We have a duty to frontline and tribal communities who are already feeling the devastating impacts of climate change to ensure a swift and just clean energy transition. Without these reforms, we won’t be able to meet our climate goals, and failing to do so will have dire consequences for our people and our planet.”
— New Democrat Coalition Vice Chair for Policy Scott Peters (CA-52) and Climate Change Task Force Co-Chair Sean Casten (IL-06) in a statement calling for action before the end of the year on clean energy and transmission permitting and reforms to accelerate clean energy production.
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LCV VICTORY FUND’S STATE AFFILIATES INVEST $3.3 MILLION TO TURN OUT CLIMATE VOTERS: Today, LCV Victory Fund’s state affiliates announced a $3.3 million investment in governors races across the country. From New Mexico to Maine, state leagues are running campaigns on cable, digital, and direct mail to highlight major contrasts between the candidates and the environmental stakes of the election. In each state, programs are targeting voters who turned out in 2020 but are in jeopardy of not showing up for pro-climate gubernatorial candidates in November and are uniquely mobilized by climate and environmental issues. These Climate Voters are key to protecting governors who have strong climate records as well as winning open seats.
OUR TAKE: LCV Victory Fund Senior National Campaigns Director Megan Jacobs said, “Across the country, voters are seeing the devastating impacts of climate change every day. When they see there are candidates who understand what’s at stake and have a plan to fight for clean air, clean water, and clean energy in their communities, they are more motivated to turn out in November.”
LCV ACTION FUND ENDORSES CA, TN, NJ, OH, AND WA CANDIDATES TO FIGHT FOR CLIMATE IN CONGRESS: LCV Action Fund, which works to elect pro-environment candidates, announced the endorsement of Sydney Kamlager (CA-37) Heidi Campbell (TN-05), Representative Bill Pascrell Jr. (NJ-09), Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) and Marie Pérez (WA-03) for Congress.
OUR TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “State Senator Sydney Kamlager has been a champion for environmental justice in the California legislature for her district and communities across the Golden State. Senator Kamlager has co-authored countless pieces of legislation that reduced pollution, protected California’s waterways, and drove the state towards a clean energy future. She is a leader in ensuring climate policy is centered in environmental and racial justice and LCV Action Fund is excited to support her campaign so that she can continue to champion climate action, environmental justice and democracy in Congress.”
OUR TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “State Senator Heidi Campbell first got into politics after fighting to preserve green space in her community, and we know that addressing climate change and protecting the environment are top priorities for her. LCV Action Fund is excited to support Senator Campbell’s campaign for Congress because she is committed to fighting the climate crisis by investing in clean energy jobs and building more resilient infrastructure, especially in frontline communities that are disproportionately harmed by climate change.”
OUR TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “Representative Pascrell is a leader in the fight for a healthier environment for all New Jerseyans. Representative Pascrell knows that oil and gas drilling threatens New Jersey’s tourism, fishing industries, and coastal ecosystem but that offshore wind will create good-paying jobs and a more sustainable future for the Garden State. We are excited to endorse Representative Pascrell for Congress because we know that New Jerseyans can always count on him to fight for climate, jobs, and justice.”
OUR TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “Representative Marcy Kaptur is a longtime advocate for our environment. Representative Kaptur’s leadership fighting for clean water for all people in Ohio and for clean energy programs has never been more urgent. We look forward to continuing our support of Representative Kaptur and working alongside her for a more just and equitable democracy and a cleaner and healthier environment for all.”
OUR TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “Marie Pérez is a community leader and small business owner who will fight for bold climate action and clean energy independence so that all communities in Washington have a healthy environment. We know that Marie Perez will prioritize ourhealth and well-being over polluter profits and always prioritize clean energy, jobs, and justice for all communities. We are proud to endorse her campaign for Congress.”
USING EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY FOR CONSERVATION HAS CONSISTENT WIDESPREAD SUPPORT: Using executive authority to protect nature could drive substantial positive public opinion and media coverage for the Biden administration, according to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress, the Center for Western Priorities, and FM3 Research. The new analyses find that executive conservation action is wildly popular, cuts through the public’s distrust of Washington, is accessible to broad and bipartisan audiences, and garners incredibly positive media coverage. The data also suggest that the public would welcome further action by President Joe Biden to use his executive power to conserve public lands and waters. Read more about the report here and here.
REPORT: BIDEN TO DESIGNATE CAMP HALE-CONTINENTAL DIVIDE NATIONAL MONUMENT NEXT WEDNESDAY: Speaking of using executive authority to protect public lands, the LA Times reports that President Biden will travel to Colorado next Wednesday to join Senator Michael Bennet and others who have been urging him to protect some of the lands that would be conserved in Bennet’s CORE Act. LCV has joined local advocates, including our state partner Conservation Colorado, in calling for the president to designate a Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument.
BLAKE MASTERS → DIRTY DOZEN: Ahead of the first debate in Arizona’s U.S. Senate race on Thursday, LCV Victory Fund announced that Trump wannabe Blake Masters is the newest addition to the 2022 House and Senate Dirty Dozen list of the worst anti-environmental and anti-democracy candidates running for office this year.
OUR TAKE: LCV Victory Fund SVP of Campaigns Pete Maysmith said, “Tonight, proven champion for middle class families Senator Mark Kelly will debate one of the most extreme, anti-environment, anti-democracy MAGA Republicans this country has ever seen – Arizona voters deserve to know that Blake Masters is one of the dirtiest candidates running for federal office this year. From calling efforts to confront the climate crisis ‘stupid,’ to encouraging people to be ‘skeptical’ about climate change, Blake Masters is completely out of step with Arizonans who just experienced a deadly summer of record-breaking, climate-fueled extreme heat.”
SCOTUS Day 1: SACKETT V. EPA: On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court began their term with oral arguments in the case Sackett v. EPA, which revolves around the question of which waters deserve federal protections under the Clean Water Act – our nation’s most critical tool for safeguarding our streams, wetlands, and other waterways.
OUR TAKE: LCV President Gene Karpinski said, “Clean water is a basic human right, and a strong Clean Water Act is fundamental to ensuring everyone, no matter their race, zip code, or income, has access to the clean water they deserve. Big polluters and their allies in Congress have been pushing their dirty water agenda for decades, and this radical Supreme Court may finally give them the green light to bulldoze our wetlands and dump into our streams, jeopardizing the waters our families and communities depend on for drinking, swimming, recreating, fueling local economies, and more. This case is not about the legal definition of an obscure word, it’s about our ability to protect clean water for generations to come. We urge the Supreme Court to deliver on Congress’s intent in passing the Clean Water Act 50 years ago by upholding this bedrock environmental law and prioritizing the health of people, not the profits of polluters.”
SCOTUS DAY 2: MERRILL V. MILLIGAN: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Merrill v. Milligan, a case that has the potential to threaten our fundamental voting rights. Read our full statement here.
OUR TAKE: Advocacy Director for Judiciary & Democracy Doug Lindner said, “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of the most critical civil rights advancements in the history of the United States, and we are alarmed to see the United States Supreme Court taking up yet another case that could substantially weaken it. Voting rights laws are only as strong as the judges who enforce them…The Supreme Court cannot allow Alabama and other states to severely undermine the Voting Rights Act and further disenfranchise communities.
Far-right Supreme Court Justices have repeatedly attacked the Voting Rights Act over the last decade, even though it was reauthorized with bipartisan consensus as recently as 2006. Congressional Republicans have since abandoned the core tenet of our democracy – one person, one vote – by not just opposing new voting rights protections, but even blocking the restoration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in light of the Supreme Court’s recent attacks in Shelby County v. Holder and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee. LCV hopes the Supreme Court will do the right thing in this case by upholding the full strength of the Voting Rights Act and protecting Black Alabamians’ right to equitable representation, as well as the freedom to vote for all communities, no matter their race, language, or zip code. Unfortunately we know we cannot rely on this Court, so Congress must swiftly pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, and continue to confirm pro-environment, pro-democracy judges.”
MEMO: WEEKLY LCV VICTORY FUND UPDATE: With five weeks to go until Election Day, LCV Victory Fund’s state affiliates added four candidates for governor to this year’s Dirty Dozen, Chispa Arizona announced their endorsements for the Arizona Corporation Commission and committed to knocking on 200,000 doors before election day to flip two key seats on the Commission, and field organizing operations expanded into AZ, MI, and NV. For more updates, click here. We’d love for reporters to join us for a canvass launch in AZ, GA, MI, NV, NH, PA or WI in the coming weeks – please be in touch with National Communications Director Emily (esamsel@lcv.org) to arrange a visit.
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YOUNGKIN’S ‘ALL-OF-THE-ABOVE’ ENERGY PLAN GIVES UP ON CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE: On Monday, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin released his fossil-fuel driven energy plan that aims to significantly undermine the state’s clean energy future and progress made by the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act – the nation’s first legally binding, 100% renewable energy standard – beginning as soon as the 2023 legislative session.
VLCV TAKE: Virginia League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Michael Town said, “In his legislatively mandated roadmap to what is supposed to be our clean energy future, Governor Youngkin has instead given up by generating a plan with big handouts to the fossil fuel industry and that does little to accomplish even his own stated goals. This ‘all-of-the-above’ energy plan is really just a thinly veiled attempt to obstruct our transition to a clean energy economy and roll back the climate action policies that are securing cleaner air for Virginia while creating jobs and investment in our state. We firmly oppose any weakening or wholesale repeal efforts targeting the clean energy and climate action policies we fought so hard to secure, and we will work with our champions in the Senate to block this Administration every step of the way as they work to undermine our progress.”
WORST ANTI-ENVIRONMENT CANDIDATES IN THE STATES: LCV Victory Fund state affiliates announced four new Gubernatorial candidates to the 2022 Dirty Dozen in the States. Modeled after LCV Victory Fund’s federal Dirty Dozen, the Dirty Dozen in the States highlights 12 of the worst environmental candidates in the nation at the state and local level. These candidates consistently side against the environment and are a danger to our democracy. They are:
OUR TAKE: LCV Victory Fund Senior Vice President of Campaigns Pete Maysmith said, “Governors are going to be the key leaders to decide how we build a clean energy future. We need leaders who will fight for environmental justice, good paying jobs, and stand up to big polluters. These four candidates would take us in the opposite direction at the worst possible time.”
LET’S TALK ABOUT GENDER WITH CHISPA FLORIDA: Our Digital Organizer Osvaldo Fonseca gave a “Let’s Talk About Gender” workshop with Andrea Montanez at the Consulate of Mexico in Orlando. Check out more here.
ARIZONIANS WANT INVESTMENTS IN PARKS: Advocacy Deputy Director @_vaniaguevara represented Chispa Arizona today at the GO BOND Parks & Recreation Committee meeting, providing testimony calling to support the allocation of $12.3 millino for the Parks and Recreation Estrella Civic Space. Check out more here.
SEPTEMBER 15 – OCTOBER 15: Hispanic Heritage Month
OCTOBER 10: Indigenous Peoples Day
OCTOBER 18: 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act
OCTOBER 20: Next on the Docket: A Supreme Court Preview
WHEN: October 20, 2022 at 1pm ET
WHO: LCV Advocacy Director for Judiciary and Democracy Doug Lindner and other experts from across the movement
HOSTED BY: Progressive Caucus Action Fund and Indivisible
WHERE: Zoom, click to register here
MONTH OF NOVEMBER: Native American Heritage Month
NOVEMBER 8: Election Day
©2024 League of Conservation Voters