Each month, LCV shares five stories about our work. This month, we’re focusing on how we’re holding Republicans accountable for their disastrous budget, our Wisconsin affiliate’s clean water win, Chispa’s latest pollution protections, our public lands road show, and how we’re equipping new candidates to win downballot races.

This Month’s Stories

1. August Recess Campaign Holds House Republicans Accountable

In partnership with leading clean energy and climate action advocates, LCV is blanketing local airwaves and taking to the streets in 16 Congressional districts and counting. Together, we’re holding House Republicans accountable for their disastrous votes on their harmful budget legislation — what we call the Big Ugly Bill.

What’s In the Bill

The legislation gives tax breaks to oil and gas billionaires, guts solar and wind energy investments, dismantles environmental justice progress, cuts vital healthcare, and raises energy costs for people across the country.

What We’re Doing About It

• While members of Congress were home for August recess, we launched our accountability campaign in key districts where representatives voted for the Big Ugly Bill.
• Tactics included educating and mobilizing the public through a mix of paid media, grassroots organizing, in-person and visibility events, digital activations, direct mail, and more.
• By mid-August, 15 ads had already aired across TV and digital, with dozens more in the works — all part of our $8 million accountability investment.
• More than 70 events took place across the target districts, which include AZ-01, AZ‑06, CA-22, CA-40, CO-08, IA-01, MI-07, NV-02, NJ-07, NY-17, OH-15, PA-07, PA-08, PA-10, TX-15, and WI-03.

Who’s Involved

• LCV, Climate Action Campaign, Climate Emergency Advocates, Climate Power, EDF Action, House Majority Forward, and the NRDC Action Fund all invested in this effort.

Why Accountability Matters

• In a fully functional democracy, constituents must be well informed about the voting records of those elected to represent them.
• Informed constituents are better equipped to advocate for themselves, their communities, and their futures.
• Accountability also influences members of Congress and other elected officials.

LCV’s Signature Accountability Work

• LCV has published the National Environmental Scorecard for more than 50 years to track the voting records of all members of Congress on critical environmental, climate, environmental justice, and democracy legislation.
• Many LCV state affiliates in the Conservation Voters Movement also publish scorecards focused on the voting records of their state lawmakers.
• This critical objective, factual scoring is one key component of our strategy to hold elected leaders accountable by shining a light on their actions. 

Dig Deeper: Watch the ads and learn more about our accountability campaign.

2. Wisconsin Affiliate Wins Clean Water Protections

Wisconsin Conservation Voters’ (WCV) recently won a legislative victory that will protect drinking water and public health for generations.

The Problem

• Drinking water in communities across the state includes health-harming contaminants like PFAS, lead, and nitrates.
• These chemicals have been used for decades in industrial applications, firefighting foam, everyday consumer products, and on farms.
• These “forever chemicals” don’t break down naturally and have been linked to serious health risks, including cancer and premature births.
• In addition to suffering from life-threatening health effects, Wisconsinites have spent more than $2 billion annually on healthcare expenses associated with these toxins.

What We Did About It

WCV worked for years to make progress on this issue, educating lawmakers and mobilizing community members to advocate for safe water:

Results

WCV’s advocacy resulted in $732 million dollars to address water contamination in a bipartisan vote that included three swing-district Republicans. Funds will address water contamination and provide safe drinking water to households across the state.

What’s Next

WCV staff have set their sights on more comprehensive solutions that include cleaning up contaminated soil and phasing out products containing PFAS and other toxins.

3. Chispa Texas Halts Heavy Industrial Rezoning

By engaging and mobilizing community members, LCV’s Chispa Texas program helped protect Corpus Christi communities from the hazards of heavy industrial development.

The Backstory

• For years, the Port of Corpus Christi had been purchasing properties adjacent to two neighborhoods.
• The Port recently moved to get those properties rezoned from residential and commercial to heavy industrial.
• The zoning cases and accompanying proposed street closures raised deep concerns among residents.
• If the rezoning request had passed, it would have further burdened communities that have already suffered from decades of industrial encroachment and displacement.

What We Did About It

• Chispa Texas mobilized people to speak at the April Planning Commission’s meeting where the zoning request was made.
• Sixty community members attended, and 29 spoke against the rezoning request.
• The Planning Commission voted to deny the request after hearing from the community.
• In late July, the City Council upheld the Planning Commission’s recommendations, denying one request for heavy industrial zoning and downgrading it to light industrial zoning, and denying another request for light industrial zoning and downgrading it to commercial zoning instead.

Results

These wins will make a meaningful difference for community members, who no longer face the threat of living near hazardous chemical manufacturing or power plants. The new zoning means that residents will live near much safer warehouses, distribution centers, offices, shops, or restaurants.

4. We’re Mobilizing Nationwide to Protect Public Lands

LCV and our state affiliates are working with local communities to push back against the Trump administration’s attacks on our lands and waters. We successfully defeated a plan to sell public lands, which was included in the recently passed Republican-led budget — but ongoing threats to the lands and waters we treasure remain.

In response, LCV and our state affiliates in the Conservation Voters Movement (CVM) have launched a nationwide roadtour highlighting these special places and their value to our communities.

Why Protect Public Lands

• Protecting natural ecosystems helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increasing our ability to mitigate the climate crisis.
• Public lands and waters are economic drivers for communities, generating tourism dollars and supporting small businesses across the country.
• Public lands are historically and culturally significant, and many contain sacred sites that are important to Tribal and other communities.
• Our nation’s pristine waterways, soaring forests, and sprawling deserts provide habitat for rare flora and fauna, clean water sources for cities and towns, and opportunities for outdoor recreation.

A Rare Unifying Issue

Protecting public lands is overwhelmingly popular across the country:

• In Idaho, where the state hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since Lyndon B. Johnson, 96% of residents think public lands should be in public hands.
• A Trust for Public Lands poll found that 74% of people in the U.S. oppose the closure of national public lands, and 71% oppose selling public lands to the highest bidder.
• In addition, 88% of voters are concerned about the pollution of lakes and rivers and 82% of voters think the U.S. should protect more of its lands and waters.

Our August Recess Road Show

LCV organized events alongside local communities, artists, advocates, and elected officials to spread awareness about the threats posed by the Trump administration and to highlight the value of these irreplaceable places and resources.

• Our first event was in Boulder, Colorado, where the U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader Neguse (CO-2)  joined our state affiliate, Conservation Colorado, and local leaders for a solidarity hike through the Flatirons. Rep. Neguse also spoke about the unique threats posed to his district and the state during the event.
• The road show series continued through the August congressional recess and included events in Arizona, California, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, and more.
• Events in each state highlighted popular recreational activities in public spaces critical to community life, including hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, biking, kayaking, and sightseeing.
• LCV and our state affiliates successfully garnered media attention in Colorado, Maine, and elsewhere, and created social media buzz to maximize the reach of each event.

Dig Deeper: 

• Learn more about our nationwide mobilization to save public lands.
• See how we’re tracking attacks on our public lands and waters by Congress and the Trump administration.

5. Building the Bench of Climate and Democracy Leaders

Thanks to LCV’s Candidate Academy, there’s a growing pool of qualified and well-equipped electoral candidates ready to tackle our nation’s environmental and democracy challenges. Since 2020, we’ve trained more than 150 aspiring candidates, and, so far, 19 of those have gone on to win races and take on leadership roles in their towns, counties, and states. Our alumni go on to serve in a variety of ways, including in state legislatures, county boards, city councils, schools boards, and by mentoring other aspiring leaders.

Meet Ana Alicia Horn, School Board Member, Mansfield, Texas

Ana Alicia Horn was weary of the local school board spending time on book bans and restricted bathroom access for trans students. She believed the board should be focusing on addressing academic achievement gaps for English language learners and low-income students. So, she decided to run for a board seat to make things better.

Horn attended LCV’s Candidate Academy and says it bolstered her successful bid for the school board seat. She credits the program with equipping her to make the best possible use of every dollar she raised, informing her about effective mailers, websites, and campaign marketing materials, and helping her shape and execute her successful campaign plan.

Now that she’s in office, Horn is focused on what matters:

• Providing equitable access to dual language immersion programs
• Improving communication with families and building community trust
• Increasing teacher retention by addressing pay gaps and teacher morale

Dig Deeper: Read about Ana Alicia Horn’s candidate experiences and vision for what’s next. 

Meet Kate Daniels, County Supervisor, Monterey, California

Years before attending the Candidate Academy, Kate Daniels had volunteered for LCV’s state affiliate, California Environmental Voters, calling folks to urge their support of pro-environment candidates. Since then, she’s enjoyed a successful career supporting other policy makers. Today, Daniels holds a decision-making seat of her own, serving as a Supervisor of Monterey County, California.

Prior to running for office, Daniels attended LCV’s Candidate Academy, and she credits it with helping her understand the components of a successful campaign, including focusing on securing endorsements and contacting voters early, before other candidates. “Campaigns are a science, and the training provided the steps that allowed me to complete my campaign successfully,” Daniels recalls.

Now that she’s in office, Daniels is focusing on:

• Providing equitable and affordable housing access
• Creating a sustainable economy, spanning the agriculture and tourism sectors

Dig Deeper: Read about Kate Daniels’ lessons learned and how she’s focusing her leadership role.

Candidate Academy Goals

Candidate Academies are offered by LCV in partnership with our state affiliates, and they’re focused on the following goals:

• Providing opportunities for short- and long-term candidate development to leaders in the Conservation Voters Movement.
• Growing a diverse pool of local and state candidates and preparing them with tools and resources to effectively represent their communities.
• Providing the skills needed to lead winning campaigns along with opportunities to practice using those skills.

Online and In-Person Trainings

• Our webinar series introduces the idea of running for office to our large membership base and reaches hundreds of potential candidates.
• Webinars feature experts from all sectors of our movement who share expertise on messaging, voter engagement, fundraising, and more.
• Participants gain the skills to run effective campaigns, including creating fundraising plans, managing volunteer recruitment, and working with the media.
• After the training, we provide monthly coaching sessions and support to solve real challenges encountered when developing and executing campaign plans.

In response to increased demand, LCV has doubled in-person offerings this year, providing trainings in Boise, ID, Baton Rouge, LA, and Moab, UT — with more planned in Shreveport, LA, Helena, MT, Corpus Christi, TX, and Grand Prairie, TX.

Dig Deeper: Learn more about how we develop future climate and democracy leaders.