View the digital ad here, and listen to the Spanish radio ad here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) today launched a multimedia ad campaign thanking Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) for his vote in favor of Senator Brian Schatz’s (D-HI) amendment to S.2012, the Senate Energy Policy Modernization Act, which would have phased out taxpayer subsidies for coal and some of the largest producers of oil and gas over a four-year period. The ads, on Facebook and Spanish radio, target Sen. Bennet’s constituents and will run for about one week. This is part of a larger $370,000 multimedia ad campaign holding senators accountable or applauding them for their votes on Sen. Schatz’s amendment.

“Sen. Bennet is once again standing up for what’s best for Latino communities,” said Conservation Colorado Executive Director Pete Maysmith. “He understands the importance of Latinos actively participating in the transition to a clean energy economy, protecting public health, and combating climate change. It’s great to see Sen. Bennet leading efforts to grow Colorado’s clean energy industries and protect our environment.”

“We applaud Sen. Bennet for voting to end these taxpayer giveaways to these mature and highly-polluting industries,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “The reality is simple: oil, gas, and coal companies benefit from billions of dollars of handouts every year at taxpayers’ expense while fueling the climate crisis and threatening public health and the environment. Some of these dirty energy incentives have been on the books for more than a century and with key incentives for wind and solar being phased out over the next several years, the time to stop these outdated taxpayer giveaways is now.”

On February 2, Sen. Schatz offered an amendment to S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, which would have phased out fossil fuel subsidies for coal and some of the largest producers of oil and gas over a four-year period. These subsidies amount to billions of dollars of taxpayer handouts for these mature, highly-polluting industries and the Schatz amendment parallels the timeframe over which Congress recently agreed to phase out critical tax incentives for the wind and solar industries. The Senate rejected the Schatz amendment by a bipartisan vote of 50-45 (Senate Roll Call Vote 14). Sen. Bennet voted YAY.

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