If
you would like to be represented by more elected officials who support
environmental safeguards for our air, water, and land (and if this is one of
your top criteria when choosing candidates to vote for), take a look at the
resources provided by the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). LCV is a non-partisan “national
non-profit organization that works to turn environmental values into national
sound environmental policies” and works to “elect pro-environment candidates
who will adopt and implement such policies.”
(Please note: The links to resources and
endorsements provided in this post do not constitute an endorsement from Mother
Earth News.)
One
of LCV’s flagship reports is its annual National
EnvironmentalScorecard, which shows how each U.S. congressperson
voted on every environmentally relevant piece of legislation. You can search
the Scorecard by state, zip code, a congressperson’s name, or by year. Or you
can download a PDF of the entire Scorecard.
LCV
endorses pro-environment candidates for Senate, House, Presidential, and
Gubernatorial races. See their current endorsements here.
LCV
also makes anti-endorsements. This year, LCV named five incumbent House candidates
to a group they’ve dubbed the Flat Earth Five:
five of the most staunch climate-change deniers in the House of
Representatives. LCV issues an annual Dirty Dozen list, as
well, which includes the Flat Earth Five this year, as well as other candidates
who consistently vote against clean energy and conservation.
More
than 30 states now have their own state-level
LCVs, which hold state elected officials accountable on various
environmental issues. Click on the map at that link to find the website for
your state’s LCV and learn about your state and local candidates and issues.
Related
resources:
- Sierra Club’s endorsements
- ConservAmerica: formerly known as
Republicans for Environmental Protection - Patagonia’s
Vote the Environment project
Make
sure that you are able and prepared to vote:
- Verify that you are still
registered to vote:
Go to CanIVote.org and click on your state and
follow the links, or contact your county’s elections office.
Thousands of voters have been purged from the voter rolls in several
states. Make sure you aren’t one of them.
- Register to vote, or re-register
to vote
(if you’ve moved or changed your name or been wrongfully purged from the
registration system): Pick up a voter registration form at a Post
Office (or a library or government building) in your county; or go to 866OurVote.org
or to your county’s election office to register. Be sure to register before the deadline for your state. And if you
know you won’t be able to get to the polls on election, fill out the
absentee ballot form to receive a mail-in ballot before the deadline.
- Get info on your polling location
and hours,
as well as voting requirements in your area (e.g., voter ID
requirements), and report any voting problems: Go to Election Protection’s
866OurVote.org
website, or call 1-866-OUR-VOTE, email help@866ourvote.org, or download their free Smartphone
app.
- Find
out whether your state’s voting systems are reliable and publicly verifiable: VerifiedVoting.org
And last but not least, vote —
for the sake of your family, future generations, and the environment and
atmosphere that we all share and depend on for life.
Miriam Landman is an accomplished writer, editor, and sustainability advisor with
expertise in green living, green building, and sustainable communities.
For daily links to sustainable solutions and success stories, connect to
her Facebook page for The Green Spotlight. To receive concise, quarterly email updates from The Green Spotlight, sign up here.
