Top Photo: President Joe Biden before signing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Official White House Photo by Erin Scott)
LCV is a leader among the nation’s environmental organizations. Our comprehensive theory of change is what makes us unique and drives our success, by combining five key strategies to protect people and the planet: engaging grassroots volunteers, advocating for strong policies, holding elected officials accountable, building power at the state and local levels, and helping to elect climate and democracy champions through our affiliated organizations, LCV Victory Fund and LCV Action Fund.
This month’s stories illustrate how these strategies fit together to secure a powerful set of solutions to our climate challenges. Read this month’s LCV Top 5 stories.
People all over the country recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the transformative law that’s ushering in a new era of climate action and environmental justice.
LCV and our 30+ state affiliates are tapping into grassroots activism to protect and advance clean energy solutions across the country, and the IRA celebrations provided a strong illustration of our combined power. The video below showcases this power at work during nationwide celebrations that included:
Passing the IRA was just the beginning of our nation’s clean energy future. LCV and our 30+ state affiliates are actively engaged in safeguarding the law from far-right Republican attacks and working to put its clean energy investments to work equitably and effectively in communities across the country. Watch the celebration video:
In 2020, voters elected President Biden along with pro-climate leadership in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate — paving the way for the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Today, the IRA is supercharging the clean energy solutions that address climate change, on the path to creating millions of good-paying clean energy jobs, investing in the communities most threatened by toxic pollution and climate change, and saving U.S. households thousands of dollars each year on energy-related expenses.
And yet, in the year since the IRA was signed into law, House Republicans have voted 25 times to repeal the landmark clean energy plan and other provisions of the law, including 11 votes on the House floor and 14 votes in committees and subcommittees so far. That number continues to grow now that Republicans have finally picked a new Speaker — “MAGA Mike” Johnson — and their attempts to gut clean energy spending and environmental programs continue in the House.
A new analysis by LCV, Climate Power, and the Climate Action Campaign tracks these votes to keep constituents informed. The resulting IRA Repeal Votes Tracker is updated monthly, provides information for each vote, outlines what’s at stake if each were to pass, and includes details and updates. The far-right Republican agenda aims to dismantle progress on climate action by:
Holding elected officials accountable using tools like the IRA Repeal Votes Tracker is one key strategy used by LCV. This accountability shines a light on those who are more interested in protecting the interests of corporate polluters than protecting the health and safety of their constituents — and allows constituents to know where their elected officials stand.
Getting the right people in office is essential to advancing the right policies. That’s why LCV Action Fund works to elect pro-environment candidates who will fight to address the climate crisis and strengthen our democracy.
Since 1990, LCV Action Fund has helped elect and re-elect 95 U.S. Senators and 480 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Over the last several years, these efforts have also helped elevate climate change and clean energy as critical issues in key elections. LCV Action Fund recently announced a slate of endorsements in advance of the 2024 elections.
LCV Action Fund evaluates candidates’ policy positions, endorsing those who can win and who will fight to protect our air, land, water, and communities. To date, 110 U.S. House and Senate candidates have been endorsed in the lead-up to the 2024 elections, including these recent selections:
LCV Action Fund endorses candidates who are committed to meaningful climate and democracy action and who are reflective and representative of diverse communities and identities across the country. See the full — and growing — list of 2023-2024 LCV Action Fund-endorsed candidates.
As chaos continued in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives, LCV continued to hold elected officials accountable for their legislative votes and actions and build public awareness of their actions through the use of paid TV and digital advertising — providing voters and community members with the information they need to make informed decisions. LCV recently launched ad campaigns on two topics, the government shutdown and climate-smart agriculture:
In September, LCV, Climate Power, and House Majority Forward launched ads educating constituents and focusing on the legislative votes and actions of a set of House Republicans to shut down the U.S. government. The combined $500,000 advertising investment highlights how these far-right Republicans threatened draconian cuts to popular programs that people depend on in order to protect big oil interests.
The subjects of the ads were selected due to their recent legislative votes and actions along with their alliance with the far-right Republicans leading the call for the government shutdown, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), Matt Gaetz (FL-01), and Jim Jordan (OH-04). Watch the ads:
These ads were run on national cable as well as during in-district college football games. Learn more about the ad campaign in this NBC News feature.
While the government shutdown was temporarily averted until November 17, it still looms large and provides yet another example of how we need leaders in office who will prioritize the needs of their constituents over the needs of polluting corporations.
LCV also recently launched an ad campaign to protect climate-smart agriculture investments:
The ads are running through October in key districts and across Washington D.C. in bus shelters, as well as on digital platforms, connected TVs, streaming devices, and thousands of websites.
The IRA includes a $20 billion investment in climate-smart agriculture — one of the largest investments in farming and rural communities in decades. The funds provide resources and technical assistance to farmers to reduce their contributions to the climate crisis and build more resilient farms and food supplies.
Specifically, these investments will help farmers build soil health, improve surface and ground water quality, increase water efficiency, build resilience to drought and floods, create habitat for fish and wildlife, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect agricultural lands for future generations. And yet, these investments are under attack by extreme Republicans who want to roll back the IRA. LCV will continue to hold elected leaders accountable for their anti-environmental votes on this and other issues.
Related: In addition to accountability measures like these, LCV advocates for sound policies by communicating directly with members of Congress. Recently, LCV led 28 environmental organizations in a letter to the U.S. House urging opposition to H.R. 4368 and its funding cuts to agricultural programs and rural communities.
The connections between voting rights and climate action are clear: Communities on the front lines of the climate crisis and pollution — including Indigenous communities and communities of color — are often the same communities whose freedom to vote is routinely suppressed by restrictive voting laws and limited access to the ballot box.
LCV is working to protect and strengthen voting rights at the state and federal levels, including actively supporting passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which LCV helped reintroduce in the U.S. House in September.
In 2023 alone, over 400 restrictive voting bills were proposed in 47 state legislatures, with the burden falling hardest on Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous communities. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965, protecting the right to vote and safeguarding our democracy by:
To meet this moment, LCV is actively working to ensure that the voices of all voters are protected and counted, including advocating for passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, working with LCV state affiliates to protect and expand voting rights at the state level with states’ own Voting Rights Acts, advocating for passage of the Freedom to Vote Act, and pushing for D.C. statehood.
Hand in Hand
— Doug Lindner, LCV Senior Director of Judiciary & Democracy, speaking at a press conference held to mark the reintroduction of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the House.
The Freedom to Vote Act will ban partisan gerrymandering in congressional elections, improve our broken campaign finance system, and combat partisan election subversion — all of which are critical to allowing voters to freely and fairly elect representatives who will take meaningful action on climate change. Help protect voting rights. Urge Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act today.
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©2024 League of Conservation Voters