Each month, LCV shares five stories about the impact of our work. This month, we’re focusing on our collective impact as we defend public lands, protect and advance climate action, and strengthen our democracy. Meanwhile, LCV Action Fund is gearing up for the 2026 elections with its first round of House candidate endorsements.

This Month’s Stories

1. Defending Public Lands and Waters

Protecting our nation’s lands and waters is a popular position among people of all political stripes. And yet, Trump and his MAGA allies are trying to gut our national monuments and sell our public lands and waters to allow increased mining and drilling.

LCV and our state affiliates are working alongside a broad group of stakeholders — hunters and anglers, outdoor recreation groups, small businesses, retailers, and environmental organizations — to defend our public lands and waters.

What We’re Protecting:

• By the end of 2024, LCV had helped protect more than 670 million acres of sacred and fragile U.S. lands and waters.
• This includes 625 million acres of waters covering the entire U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea.
• This also includes 13 million acres of land in the Western Arctic and millions more acres as national monuments where people across the country hike, camp, and fish.

Current Threats:

• Trump and his allies are actively working to roll back protections for national monuments and sell and privatize our public lands and waters and open them to more fossil fuel extraction and logging.
• There are also efforts underway in Congress to sell and transfer federal lands to state or private control, opening them to more drilling and mining and increased development, while limiting public access.
• If successful, these actions would forever alter our most treasured landscapes, threaten the health of wildlife and biodiversity, damage culturally and historically significant sites, and destroy the outdoor recreation economy and the millions of jobs and livelihoods connected to it.

What We’re Doing:

• Unifying congressional allies to protect public lands and waters, national monuments, and the Antiquities Act, which has allowed presidents to protect lands and landmarks since 1906.
• Mobilizing the public to oppose selling off public lands, using paid advertising, digital outreach, phone banking, op-eds, events, and action alerts.
• Communicating about the connections between federal layoffs and the shutting down of park visitor centers with the administration’s attacks on public lands.

Our public lands are fragile. They’re economic drivers and job creators. They’re ecologically and culturally significant. They’re places where generations of people come together to make cherished memories. And they provide us with the safe water, clean air, and access to nature that are essential to our well-being. For all of these reasons and more, they’re worth protecting. LCV and our state affiliates aim to do just that.

2. Protecting Climate Action and Clean Energy Progress

At LCV, we’re defending against Trump administration and congressional attacks on climate and clean energy.

Trump’s Chaos and Destruction:

The first 100 days of the Trump administration have featured chaos and destruction beyond what we could have imagined. The Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk are waging an unprecedented assault on our environment and health, including on established successful programs and recent climate progress. They’re slashing programs that protect people and hold corporations accountable. They’re dismantling civil society institutions and undermining our democracy. They’re sidelining Congress, and they’re concentrating power in an unchecked presidency.

We’re Working with Speed — and at Scale:

• LCV’s state affiliates recently met with more than 160 congressional offices, including Republican offices, in one of the largest federal climate action advocacy weeks in LCV history.
• April’s Hands Off! rallies were attended by more than 3 million people worldwide, with LCV serving as a national partner along with eight of our state affiliates. LCV President Pete Maysmith spoke to the 100,000+ crowd at the Washington D.C. flagship event.
• Thousands of advocates are working to protect funding for the 12,000+ zero-emission school buses set to replace dirty diesel buses and provide children with clean rides to school.
• LCV members have already taken tens of thousands of actions in support of climate action, environmental justice, and conservation.

What We’ll Continue to Do About It:

LCV and our 30+ state affiliates in the Conservation Voters Movement (CVM) are fighting back against the Trump administration’s attacks, working to protect federal investments that keep our air, water, and climate safe, and advancing state and local climate action.

Together with our partners, we’re engaged in strategic action every day:

• Holding press conferences and meeting with lawmakers
• Building and strengthening community partnerships and coalitions
• Organizing postcard writing events, attending town halls, and hosting weekly phone banks
• Hosting and joining peaceful protests and rallies at state capitols
• Organizing and hosting webinars as well as email and petition drives
• Training constituents to effectively communicate with decision-makers
• Actively engaging with and pressuring Republican lawmakers who understand the importance of federal clean energy commitments in their communities and should fight to defend them

Power in Numbers:

These past 100+ days have taught us a lot, affirming that our movement is most powerful when we’re all engaged. With your help, we’re harnessing that collective power to protect our future.

Get the Details: Learn more about how we’re defending against attacks on climate and clean energy in LCV’s 100 Days Report.

3. Climate Victories in Maine, Montana, and Ohio

State climate action is vital to addressing the climate crisis, especially with federal clean energy investments under attack. State policy actions account for roughly 70% of emissions reduction commitments that have been secured in the U.S. to date.

LCV and our state affiliates have been working collectively to advance state-level policies and investments in clean energy since we launched our Clean Energy for All program in 2018. Today, more than 40% of people in the U.S. live in places committed to 100% clean energy — up from 1% before we began this work. Here are a few examples of recent state wins:

Maine’s Storm Preparedness and Climate Resiliency Law

Maine’s newly passed bipartisan legislation helps communities prepare for increasingly extreme weather and the long-term impacts of climate change.

The Fine Print: 

• The law includes a grant program to help residents safeguard their homes from extreme weather, including protecting roofs and avoiding basement flooding.
• It provides a one-time dose of funding for the Maine Emergency Management Agency to improve early warning systems and emergency communications.
• It establishes a new state office to help reduce flood and storm damage and protect public and private infrastructure.

How We Won: Maine Conservation Voters (MCV) testified at a public hearing, collaborated with coalition partners, turned out more than 80 advocates to share their stories with legislators, and maintained a steady drumbeat of support at the state legislature and with the governor’s office.

Of Note: MCV’s advocacy efforts also helped shape the state’s new four-year climate action plan, which outlines concrete steps to reduce carbon pollution, boost renewable energy production, conserve natural resources, and protect communities from the effects of climate change.

Sealing the Deal: Governor Janet Mills signed the legislation in late April.

Montana’s Community Solar Law

Montana lawmakers passed legislation that will boost community solar projects across the state.

The Fine Print: 

• The legislation will allow individuals who cannot put solar panels on their own property or business to invest in, and benefit from, solar energy.
• This includes individuals who are unable to tap into the solar market otherwise, such as those who rent their homes or live in apartment complexes.
• It also expands opportunities for Montanans who wish to develop solar arrays, including farmers, ranchers, and those who wish to create public-private partnerships.

How We Won: Montana Conservation Voters maintains an active presence at the state legislature and runs an online action hub to educate and mobilize the public on environmental legislation. They generated hundreds of calls to constituents urging them to contact policymakers and collected hundreds of petition signatures to persuade legislators and the governor to support the legislation.

Of Note: The bill was supported by more than a dozen groups including the Montana Farmers Union, Northern Plains Resource Council, the Blackfeet Nation, Fort Belknap Indian Community, the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy’s, and the Montana Environmental Information Center. More than 40 states offer similar community solar programs.

What’s Next: The bill has been sent to Governor Greg Gianforte for his signature.

Ohio’s Bipartisan Energy Reform Law

Recently passed legislation in Ohio will repeal coal subsidies that have cost Ohio ratepayers over half a billion dollars since they were enacted in 2019, as well as promote energy efficiency and improve customer protections.

The Fine Print:

The final bill, which passed the state Senate in a rare unanimous vote and passed the House with only two ‘no’ votes, includes a range of wins:

• The bill repeals coal bailouts that have cost Ohioans $90 million annually.
• It invests in optimizing the state’s existing power grid and creates the first utility reliability standards.
• It improves transparency by requiring utilities to publish data, including capacity maps and outage tracking.
• It establishes a fund for solar and energy efficiency upgrades for schools.
• It develops a framework to identify Priority Investment Areas for renewable energy development to revitalize brownfields and former coal sites.

How We Won: The Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund (OEC Action Fund) has been working to push back against the coal subsidies since 2019. This year, they mobilized Ohioans to send more than 1,500 messages to key lawmakers, testified about the bill, provided legislative briefings and trainings, educated the public through outreach and events, and kept up public pressure through op-eds, earned media, and social media.

Of Note: Due to OEC Action Fund’s advocacy, one of the Republican lawmakers they targeted, Representative Josh Williams, eventually made a floor speech about the importance of repealing the coal bailouts.

Sealing the Deal: Governor Mike DeWine signed the legislation on May 15.

Dig Deeper: Read Why Trump Can’t Stop States from Fighting Climate Change.

4. Democracy Victories in Colorado, Michigan, and Montana

Across the country, LCV’s state affiliates are protecting and expanding access to the ballot box. These state protections are increasingly important when our democracy is under attack at the federal level.

Colorado Passes Voting Rights Act

• What Happened: The Colorado Voting Rights Act was signed into law and will now allow communities to challenge discriminatory voting practices.
• How We Won: LCV’s state affiliate, Conservation Colorado, educated and mobilized constituents using savvy communications, social media engagement, and persuasive letters in support of this legislation.
• Why It Matters: The bill strengthens protections at the ballot box, expands voting access for historically excluded communities, and ensures that every voice counts in local government.

Michigan Defeats Voting Access Restrictions

• What Happened: Michigan LCV and partners successfully halted a proposed constitutional amendment that would have required voters to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote and a government-issued photo identification at the polls.
• How We Won: Our affiliate helped pack hearing rooms, deployed targeted messaging, drummed up media coverage, drafted committee questions, and educated lawmakers about the consequences of the bill.
• Why It Matters: Defeat of this legislation means that voters won’t face barriers when registering or casting their ballots — and puts pressure on lawmakers to protect voting access in the future.

Montana Defends Independent Judiciary

• What Happened: Montana Conservation Voters (MCV) helped defeat the worst of this year’s partisan judiciary bills, which would have required partisan elections of judges and allowed the legislature to overturn court rulings.
• How We Won: MCV built relationships with moderate Republican lawmakers and used savvy advocacy, petitions, direct testimony, lobby days, op-eds, and social media to educate and mobilize the public to oppose the legislation.
• Why It Matters: The defeat of these bills means that rulings like last year’s Montana Supreme Court ruling upholding the landmark constitutional right to a clean environment are still possible.

Strengthening our democracy is a key component of tackling the climate crisis. Doing so allows voters to elect leaders who will protect them, their communities, and their futures by championing climate action and environmental protections. LCV and our state affiliates will continue working to strengthen and advance a just and equitable democracy for all.

5. LCV Action Fund Endorses 2026 House Candidates

LCV Action Fund works to elect leaders who stand up for a clean, healthy environment and to defeat anti-environment candidates who oppose climate action. LCV Action Fund is gearing up for 2026 and recently endorsed a slate of climate champion candidates running for seats in the U.S. House:

About LCV Action Fund

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund is the connected federal political action committee (PAC) of the League of Conservation Voters. Since the 1990 election cycle, LCV Action Fund has helped elect and re-elect 101 U.S. senators and 514 members of the U.S. House. Our efforts have helped build power for the environmental movement.