Top 5 Stories Worth Reading — November 2024
Nov 25, 2024
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Months before Inauguration, the leaders that you helped elect have already demonstrated they’ve heard us: President-elect Biden has appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry to his national security team as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, signaling that the climate crisis will be a top priority for the Biden-Harris administration.
In response to this historic announcement, LCV President Gene Karpinski released a statement that says, in part, “President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris campaigned and won on climate and environmental justice, and today’s announcements make clear once again that their administration will prioritize international climate action on day one.” Read the full statement here.
“I believe climate change is the single greatest threat facing the world.”
— Joe Biden
We couldn’t agree more, Mr. President-elect! Sometimes, a soundbite says it all. This one happens to be included in our new (and succinct) elections recap video. Want to know more about how climate and environmental justice fueled candidate wins up and down the ballot this year? Check out our elections recap video — titled, “An Election Like No Other” — here.
This election cycle, LCV Action Fund endorsed candidates in 178 federal races across the nation. Of these candidates, 40% are people of color and 52% are women — making this year’s endorsements the most diverse to date and more reflective of our country’s racial and gender diversity. At least 110 LCV Action Fund-endorsed candidates have won their elections, including President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, four candidates for U.S. Senate, and 96 winning candidates for the U.S. House — and there are more races yet to be called.
LCV Action Fund congratulates all of our winning endorsees and the newly-elected class of environmental champions, including three Senators-elect and 10 Representatives-elect. Click here to see the full list of winning endorsees.
Pro-environment candidates who claimed victory this year were gained in part by the volunteers who joined Green Wave 2020. Green Wave 2020, a joint project of LCV, EDF Action, the NRDC Action Fund, the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund, and the Sierra Club launched in September with the goal of mobilizing each group’s members and building a green election wave. Together, the groups supported more than 40 environmental champions across 15 states for election to the White House and Congress.
Green Wave 2020 hired more than 70 professional organizers to engage the groups’ members for remote phone- and text-banking opportunities, making more than 145,000 phone calls to help members create voting plans and recruit volunteers. These efforts mobilized more than 1,600 volunteers who completed more than 3,300 phone banking shifts for environmental champions. As a thank you, at least 25 candidates joined Green Wave 2020 volunteers at phone banks and events. Click here to read more about how Green Wave 2020 mobilized members in support of pro-environment champions.
Speaking of new members, have you seen LCV’s 2020 New Member Guide? The guide summarizes the backgrounds and environmental positions of the newly-elected federal candidates who were endorsed by LCV Action Fund.
LCV is committed to continue working with both new and returning Members of Congress to protect the environment and public health. Check out the full guide here.
Want even more news? Check out LCV’s latest news here.