By Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters
Folks who know me know I like to say that the great thing about elections is we keep having them — particularly after a tough outcome like we had last year. Talk of the 2018 elections began just minutes after the 2016 races were called. But several states won’t have to wait until next year to vote again — and it’s more critical than ever that their voices be heard.
Voters in Virginia, New Jersey and Washington have prime opportunities next week to weigh in and influence the clean energy future of the states they call home while also signaling to the polluter-aligned Congress and administration that favoring the fossil fuel industry’s profits over our families has consequences.
As President Trump wastes no time rolling back critical clean air and clean water protections, we’ve watched hurricanes drown Houston in rainfall, gust through southern Florida, sequester Puerto Rico in indefinite darkness, and we’ve seen wildfires turn homes to ash in the West. The impacts of climate change have entered our houses, our communities, and our national conscience like never before — so you better bet climate and clean energy are on the ballot in this year’s state and local elections.
There’s no starker contest than the Virginia governor’s race, where the choice between pediatrician Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam and his lobbyist and former RNC chairman opponent Ed Gillespie is a referendum on Trump and his polluter-favoring environmental record. Northam, lieutenant governor candidate Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring are running on protecting Virginia’s environment, while Gillespie is visibly eager to carry out Trump’s wishes to expand offshore drilling and restore handouts to coal companies. Like Trump, Gillespie willfully ignores the causes of climate change — which are so often perpetrated by their friends in the fossil fuel industry.
That is why our state league partner is on the ground in their community with our movement’s biggest-ever investment in a governor’s race — nearly $3 million — urging Virginians who care about clean air, clean water and clean energy to elect Northam and make it clear that standing with Trump on the environment has consequences.
Similarly in New Jersey, electing Phil Murphy for governor signals a stark break from the state’s Trumpian legacy under Chris Christie. Early on in the campaign, Murphy gained our state league partner’s endorsement when he pledged to get the Garden State to 100 percent clean energy by 2050, which would make New Jersey only the second state in the country to commit to 100 percent clean energy. New Jersey voters will send a clear message by electing Phil Murphy: that they are ready to lead the nation on clean energy and rectify Christie’s dirty legacy.
Out West, two local races in Washington state show how every level of government can have outsized impacts. A single state senate race in a special election could tip the balance of power in the legislature to a pro-environment majority, opening the door for our nation’s greenest governor, Jay Inslee, to move forward with the state’s clean energy priorities. Manka Dhingra, a prosecutor who is backed by our state league partner, is running against Jinyoung Englund, who’s being supported by outside spending to the tune of $575,000 from the likes of Chevron, Phillips 66, Tesoro, and even Koch Industries.
And finally, in a race that will determine the swing seat on Washington’s Vancouver Port Commission, Big Oil is bankrolling candidate Kris Greene’s campaign. The commission will soon decide whether to move forward with a proposal for the largest oil terminal in North America — one that will export 360,000 barrels of oil every day, and jeopardize the community’s public health, safety and economy with potential spills and train derailments. Big Oil wants to put a bought and paid for candidate in that seat to ensure they get their way — regardless of the consequences for the community — so industry spending adds up to 90 percent of the donors funding Greene’s campaign. One of his former campaign strategists said it best — “Big Oil is completely dictating where every penny is going.”
So, this year, as we stare down the home stretch of the 2017 elections, these races give us realistic hope that our country can continue to lead on climate and clean energy, despite our negligent federal leadership. If voters turn out to the polls, we can show the oil industry, Congress, the Trump administration, and all these polluter-backed candidates that there are consequences for putting lavish industry profits ahead of our health and well-being.
