NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, DC—The New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) and the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund today announced their endorsement of Kathleen Rice for Congress (NY-4).

Long Island is on the forefront of a wide range of sustainability challenges, from climate change and sea-level rise, to water pollution and an aging transportation network. The 4th District needs a leader who can tackle these complex issues and bring federal resources to the district. With her impressive track record and environmental action plan, Kathleen Rice is ideally suited for the job.

“Kathleen Rice saw firsthand how Hurricane Sandy devastated New York’s 4th District, which is why she supports commonsense solutions to combat climate disruption and invest in adaption measures to protect our communities,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski. “She supports efforts to reduce carbon pollution and to grow our clean energy economy, which will create good paying jobs, protect our health, and reduce our reliance on dirty fossil fuels.”  

“For too long, Congress has refused to take meaningful steps to fight climate change or get our nation ready for rising seas and extreme weather,” said Marcia Bystryn, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters. “The need for action on Long Island could not be more clear, and that’s why we are proud to endorse Kathleen Rice for Congress. She is exactly the kind of 21st century environmental leader that Nassau County needs.”

“I’m so proud to receive this endorsement and I’m excited to welcome the LCV’s members to our grassroots team as we work to get out the vote in the final days of this race,” said Kathleen Rice. “Hurricane Sandy showed us all that climate change poses a unique and severe threat to our district, and it’s time to take action. I’m committed to working with advocates like the LCV to curb greenhouse gas emissions and lead the transition to clean energy, which will not only protect our district’s future but also create good jobs and new economic opportunities on Long Island.”

As District Attorney of Nassau County, Kathleen Rice made it a priority to enforce state environmental laws and protect the county’s diverse ecosystem. In her first year in office, she created the office’s first-ever Environmental Crimes Unit, to investigate and aggressively prosecute violations of New York’s Environmental Conservation Law. She worked in close collaboration with state and federal law enforcement and environmental protection agencies, pursued more than a thousand cases and secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and forfeitures.

Rice will bring that same focus on environmental progress to Congress. She has pledged to support legislation that will reduce greenhouse gasses by 20 percent by the year 2020. She supports clean-energy incentives to create local, good-paying jobs that cannot be outsourced. She is a strong advocate of federal funding to improve the region’s transportation network with better rail, cycling and pedestrian options. And she has pledged to restore protections in the Clean Water Act that are essential to safeguarding ecosystems and critical drinking-water sources.

# # # 

Paid for by League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and New York League of Conservation Voters Federal Fund, and authorized by Kathleen Rice for Congress.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary year, the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) is the only statewide organization that uses the power of endorsements and a political action committee to elect environmental leaders.