Environment groups plan pro-climate pressure campaign during August recess
By Ella Nilsen
Two key climate groups are planning a multi-state blitz of ads and in-person events during the upcoming August recess, encouraging lawmakers to go big and bold on climate legislation.
The League of Conservation Voters and Climate Power announced a multi-state tour in August featuring at least 31 events in states including Arizona — home of moderate Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire and Nevada. The two groups plan to spend over $10 million in paid advertisements, in addition to another $10 million they announced last month.
“We are going into those states and districts across the country because the stakes have never been higher when it comes to the climate crisis and the opportunity has never been greater,” Tiernan Sittenfeld, the senior vice president of government affairs for League of Conservation Voters, told CNN.
The Washington Post first reported the lobbying effort.
The groups’ message, both in person and across the airwaves, will be telling members of Congress to enact as much bold climate legislation as they can this fall. When Congress reconvenes in September, Democrats will be focused on writing and passing their hotly debated $3.5 trillion budget proposal. Progressives are pressing for the inclusion of key elements to address the climate crisis — including tax credits for renewable energy, a Clean Electricity Standard and a Civilian Climate Corps.
The tour will include events such as clean energy facility visits with members of Congress and community gatherings, a press release said. The tour doesn’t include any events in West Virginia, the home state of conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin — who has previously expressed concerns about what climate provisions could mean for his coal-producing state.
“We don’t have a state LCV (League of Conservation Voters) in West Virginia, but we know acting on climate is both good policy and good politics,” Sittenfeld told CNN. “We absolutely expect all members of Congress, but particularly every Democratic senator to seize this moment.”
Ads will air in 9 states and 13 key battleground districts Democrats are defending in the 2022 midterms, including: Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, Georgia’s 6th and 7th Congressional Districts, Iowa’s Third Congressional District, Michigan’s 8th and 11th Congressional Districts, New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, and Virginia’s 2nd and 7th Congressional Districts, among others.
Sittenfeld said that when it comes to the climate crisis, President Joe Biden and congressional leadership “have all been clear failure is not an option.”
“The scale of the climate crises is immense,” she told CNN. “We have to act now, we’re out of time.”
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