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November 9, 2015  

LCV Action Fund Endorses Hillary Clinton for President

Nashua, NH:  Hillary Clinton will join the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund President Gene Karpinski and Board Chair Carol M. Browner today in Nashua, NH to receive the environmental group’s endorsement for President of the United States—its earliest endorsement of a Presidential candidate in the history of the organization and the first endorsement ever made before any votes are cast.

“When it comes to fighting the climate crisis, the stakes couldn’t be higher—and we are confident that Hillary Clinton is the right person for the job,” said Gene Karpinski, President of LCV Action Fund. “With her proven history of leadership, strong environmental record, and a campaign committed to building a clean energy future, Hillary Clinton is without a doubt the most effective leader to stand up to Big Polluters and push forward an aggressive plan to tackle climate change and get it done.”

Hillary Clinton has a long history of strong environmental leadership. As a Senator, Clinton supported a number of important climate and clean energy bills, including reducing carbon and other pollutants from power plants, repealing Big Oil tax handouts, and investing in renewable energy. Clinton also proposed several environmental justice initiatives. As Secretary of State, she made climate change a top priority. Clinton appointed the first-ever Special Envoy for Climate Change who serves as the Administration’s point person for climate negotiations, including the recent, historic bilateral climate agreement with China and formed the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, a partnership with dozens of other countries to reduce short-lived climate pollutants like black carbon and methane. In 2009, Clinton made a breakthrough announcement committing the U.S. to help jointly mobilize $100 billion by 2020 to help communities across the world deal with the ravages of climate change. This commitment helped reinvigorate stalled negotiations and led to an agreement in Copenhagen.

“As a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton has made the need to grow a sustainable, clean energy economy and tackling climate change a major part of her conversation with voters,” said Carol M. Browner, Board Chair of LCV, former EPA Administrator and Director of the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy under President Obama. “With a history of leadership on the international stage and a commitment to protecting public health, Hillary Clinton is the leader we need to meet the climate crisis head-on.”

Clinton has pledged that by 2027 the U.S. will generate enough renewable energy to power every home (roughly 33% of US energy).  She also pledged that by the end of her first term there would be more than 500 million solar panels installed across the country, a 700% increase from 2014 levels. Her energy plan will incentivize investment in renewable energy sources by increasing the number of government grants for clean energy, extending federal clean energy tax incentives and expanding renewable energy on public lands. She is also opposed to the dirty and dangerous Keystone XL pipeline and offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean. 

This is the earliest presidential endorsement in the history of LCV Action Fund. Until today, the earliest endorsement was of John Kerry in January of 2004. The Political Committee of LCV’s Board of Directors reviewed questionnaires and conducted in-person interviews with each pro-environment candidate—and the full Board of Directors voted to endorse Secretary Clinton following a recommendation from the Political Committee.  LCV will now launch its Greenroots program to mobilize members in early primary states to volunteer for Secretary Clinton’s campaign.

Clinton will also now be featured on LCV Action Fund’s GiveGreen website, http://www.givegreen.com, the only bundling website devoted exclusively to raising money for environmental champions and candidates.

The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund (LCVAF), the connected federal political action committee (PAC) of the League of Conservation Voters, works to elect candidates who will implement sound environmental laws and policies, and defeat those who stand in the way of progress. 

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Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and authorized by Hillary for America.

El Fondo de Acción de LCV Respalda a Hillary Clinton para Presidente

Nashua, NH: Hillary Clinton acompañara el día de hoy a la Presidenta del Fondo de Acción de la Liga de Votantes por la Conservación del Medio Ambiente Gene Karpinski y a la Presidenta de la Mesa Directiva, Carol M. Browner, para recibir el endoso para Presidente de los Estados Unidos – el endoso más temprano para un candidato presidencial en la historia de la organización, y el primer endoso realizado antes de que se emita cualquier voto.

“Cuando se trata de combatir la crisis climática, lo que se encuentra en juego no puede ser más grande – y tenemos la confianza de que Hillary Clinton es la persona correcta para este trabajo,” dijo Gene Karpinski, Presidenta del Fondo de Acción de LCV. “Con su récord de liderazgo comprobado, un historial sólido referente al medio ambiente y una campaña comprometida a construir un futuro con energía limpia, Hillary Clinton es sin lugar a dudas la líder más eficaz para enfrentarse a los Grandes Contaminadores y empujar un plan agresivo para combatir el cambio climático y lograr que se haga.”

Hillary Clinton tiene un largo historial de sólido liderazgo ambientalista. Como Senadora, Clinton apoyó un número de importantes proyectos de ley sobre el clima y energía climática, incluyendo la disminución de carbono y otros contaminantes provenientes de las plantas de energía, derogando la ayuda financiera a los Grandes Petroleras, e invirtiendo en energía renovable. Clinton también propuso varias iniciativas de justicia ambiental. Como Secretario de estado, hizo al cambio climático una prioridad. Clinton designó el primer Delegado Especial de Cambio Climático que sirve como la persona designada por la  administración para negociaciones sobre el clima, incluyendo el reciente  acuerdo bilateral,  e histórico,  sobre el clima  con China y formó la coalición  Climática y de Aire Limpio , en asociación con docenas de otros países para reducir los contaminantes climáticos de corta duración como el carbono negro y metano. En 2009, Clinton hizo un anuncio comprometiendo a  los Estados Unidos para ayudar a movilizar conjuntamente $100 billones en el 2020 para ayudar a las comunidades en todo  mundo a lidiar con los estragos del clima cambian. Este compromiso ayudó a revitalizar estancado las negociaciones y condujo a un acuerdo en Copenhague.

"Como candidato presidencial, Hillary Clinton has hecho la necesidad de desarrollar una economía de energía limpia y sostenible y la lucha contra el cambio climático una gran parte de su conversación con los votantes," dijo Carol M. Browner, Presidente Junta de LCV, ex administradora de la EPA y Director de la Oficina de Energía y Póliza de Cambio Climático bajo el Presidente Obama... "Con una historia de liderazgo en el escenario internacional y uncompromiso para proteger la salud pública, Hillary Clinton es el líder que necesitamos para continuar enfrentando a la crisis climática".

Clinton ha prometido que para 2027 los EE.UU. generarán suficiente energía renovable para proporcionar energía a todos los hogares (aproximadamente 33 por ciento de la energía de los EE.UU.). También prometió que para el final de su primer término habría más de 500 millones de paneles solares instalados por todo el país, un incremento del 700% de los niveles de 2014. Su plan de energía incentivará la inversión de fuentes de energía renovable al incrementar el número de subvenciones gubernamentales para energía limpia, ampliando los incentivos fiscales federales de energía limpia y ampliando la energía renovable en tierras públicas. Ella se opone al sucio oleoducto de Keystone XL y a la perforación en el agua en el Océano Ártico.

Este es el endoso presidencial más temprano en la historia del Fondo de Acción de la LCV. Hasta ahora el endoso más temprano había sido para John Kerry en enero de 2004. El Comité Político de la Mesa Directiva de LCV revisó cuestionarios y llevaron a cabo entrevistas en persona con cada candidato pro-medio ambiente – y toda la Mesa Directiva votó para respaldar a la Secretaria Clinton seguida de una recomendación del Comité Político. La LCV lanzará ahora su programa Greenroots para movilizar a sus miembros en las primarias estatales tempranas para que sean voluntarios en la campaña de la Secretaria Clinton.

Clinton estará siendo destacada en la página web del Fondo de Acción de la LCV, GiveGreen, http://www.givegreen.com, la única página web dedicada exclusivamente a recaudar fondos para campeones y candidatos ambientalistas.

El Fondo de Acción de la Liga de Votantes por la Conservación del Medio Ambiente (LCVAF, por sus siglas en inglés), el comité de acción política federal vinculado (PAC, por sus siglas en inglés) de la Liga de Votantes por la Conservación del Medio Ambiente, trabaja para elegir a candidatos que implementarán leyes y políticas ambientales sólidas, y derrotar a aquellos que se interponen en el camino del progreso.

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Pagado por la League of Conservation Voters Action Fund y autorizado por Hillary for America.


Hillary Clinton Receives Endorsement from League of Conservation Voters Action Fund

In an address to the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund today in Nashua, NH, Hillary Clinton proudly accepted the environmental group’s endorsement of her campaign. This is the LCV’s earliest endorsement of a presidential candidate in the history of the organization, and its first endorsement ever before any votes are cast in the primary election.
 
Please see the full remarks below:
 
“Thank you.  Thank you so much.  Wow.  I can’t tell you how truly honored and just thrilled I am to be here today.  This means a great deal to me to not only receive the endorsement, which of course is incredibly impactful, but also to start the process of being your partner as we build on the progress that has been made against pretty steep odds, and keep going here at home and around the world.  And so to that end, I want to thank LCV.  I want to thank Gene, one of the most effective, relentless advocates for the environment, against climate change.  I am so grateful to you for everything that you have done and will do. 
 
“I want to thank Congresswoman Kuster for being here.  Thank you very much.  And also Senator Bette Lasky and former Senator Silvia Larson, great advocates.  And I thought former Congressman Dick Swett was here.  I don’t see him right now, but I’m grateful for his strong support.  I want to thank Alice Chamberlin, who started off the program today, someone else I have been really privileged to know for a very long time and who has been a great advocate here in New Hampshire and around the country.  So thank you, Alice.  And then finally, Carol Browner – I am so pleased that she chairs the board of LCV because nobody comes better prepared to try to converge policy and politics.  Because we can care all we want about the policies that we know should be undertaken, but then we have to figure out how do we get the politics lined up and get the results that we’re seeking. 
 
“There is no doubt in my mind that the issues wrapped up in the challenge of climate change are ones that will have great consequences.  That’s why I say it’s consequential, because the consequences from what is happening here at home and around the world cannot be escaped.  It’s not like there’s someplace you can go and hide from it.  It is global and local.  In the old days, we used to talk about the environment; we would try to combine those two.  Remember, Gene?  Think globally, act locally.  Now we’ve got to think globally and locally, and act globally and locally.  Because there is no alternative.
 
“And having this endorsement means so much to me personally because I believe strongly that we can make the case, we can convert some of the skeptics, but it will only happen if we are going to be stalwart in our focus on this issue as being central not only to this campaign, but for everything we do politically going forward. 
 
“Now, we’re here – and this is like preaching to the choir – because we know that climate change is not only real but is already present.  2015 is on track to be the hottest year on record by quite a bit.  In just the last month, we’ve seen record-high tides, sunny-day floods in Miami, catastrophic flash flooding in Texas, wildfires raging across the West.  The future that scientists have warned us about has arrived.  We have been fighting this battle for a long time, and I know that for those of you who have been on the front lines, it can feel like two steps forward, one step back is what happens.  For instance, in 2008 – think about this:  In 2008, hardly ancient history, the Republican Party platform had a long section about combating climate change.  It supported wind and solar renewable energy.  And now we have candidates like Ted Cruz who says climate change is not science.  Now, that can be pretty dispiriting, but it also can be galvanizing.  Because that means there are Republicans – quite a few of them, because remember, the Republican Party was among the original conservationists and environmentalists; we owe the EPA to a Republican president – I am issuing a very wide call for Republicans who care about this issue to join with us, because this is not a partisan issue.  This should not be locked in by any one party or (inaudible).
 
“And I really applaud the President, because we’ve had a few good weeks for the climate.  And LCV had a lot to do with producing those good weeks.  First, President Obama canceled future lease sales in the Arctic, and I could not agree more.  As President, I will put the Arctic off limits to drilling because I think there are some places where we have to keep fossil fuels in the ground or under the ocean.  I will also work as president to create a coalition of other nations, particularly those whose territory borders the Arctic, to join us in this effort.  Because we are going to need to get the Arctic Council members – I was very active in this arena when I was Secretary of State, because there are a lot of countries eyeing the Arctic for exploitation, and we need to have an international consensus similar to what years ago we had about the Antarctic, only it has to be updated like we have to do with the Antarctic, and we have to get more countries to agree with us: leave it under the ocean.
 
“Now, secondly, I’m so proud of New York Attorney general Eric Schneiderman, because he announced he’s going to investigate Exxon to get to the bottom of whether they misled the world.  This is something that all three of the Democratic candidates called for.  It’s a big deal.  It is unacceptable for anyone to put the health of our families and our planet at risk by obscuring science.  Science, by the way, that they themselves initiated, and then, as time went by, they rejected.  So whether you’re in the board room or on the campaign trail, we need to hold you accountable, and I am thrilled that the New York attorney general is starting that process.
 
“And then of course on Friday, President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline.  So North America’s dirtiest fuel will not be making its way through the heartland and adding to the climate challenge. 
So it’s been a good few weeks, but we have a lot more to do and I am so concerned that we have to do a better job reaching out to people who either don’t yet see this as an important priority or who do but are not quite sure how to address it.  And it’s kind of what Carol has said, that there are even people who basically agree with us, but they’re worried about the solutions.  And I have been very clear that combating climate change is not only the right thing to do in order to preserve our planet, to deal with the threats that it poses, but it can be a very smart economic approach as well.  Why?  Because in addition to defending President Obama’s historic gains that he’s made, starting with the clean power plant, but others as well, we need a clear economic program that goes hand in hand with combating climate change. 
 
“So here’s what I am doing.  I want to set some big goals for America again.  I think we need to get back into the future business and set those goals, like President Kennedy sending a man to the moon and back in a decade.  When he announced it people thought, “We’re never going to do that.  That seems kind of farfetched.”  Well, we did it.  So I believe we can have 500 million more solar panels installed by the end of my first term, and enough renewable electricity to power every home in America within 10 years. 
 
“Building on the Clean Power Plan, I will launch a clean energy challenge to partner with states, cities, and rural America to accelerate clean energy deployment, building efficiency, and clean transportation.  I spend a lot of time when I’m not in New Hampshire – I’m often in Iowa – and I have been struck by how one-third of the electricity in Iowa already comes from wind.  So when people say to me, “Well, it’s really hard.  We don’t know how to do it.”  No, there are places all over America who are using wind and solar, who have plans in response to the Clean Power Plan who are proceeding.  We just have to take this look at it from a national perspective and really engage everyone to understand it can be an economic winner, not loser.  It will create millions of new jobs and businesses.  I will also launch negotiations with Canada and Mexico for a North American Climate Compact to cut carbon pollution and fight climate change across the continent.  I think it’s important that we work with our partners to the north and to the south, that we do more on a modern grid that connects both Canada and Mexico to us, and then head south through Central America into Latin America, and where we work together instead of arguing over a pipeline – where we work together to move more quickly on clean, renewable energy.
 
“I want to make sure every American shares in the benefits of a clean energy future.  So that means helping to bring solar and energy efficiency technologies to more low-income communities.  I think this is something we don’t talk about enough.  When Carol was talking about the health consequences that she and I worked on back in the ’90s – we had a great partner in Barbara Boxer – we really tried to raise the alarm about what pollution does to people’s lungs, particularly children.  But now we’ve kind of lost the importance of that.  People think, well, things are getting better.  An African American child is still 500 percent more time – more likely to die of asthma than a white child because they often live near power plants and other polluters, and they, unfortunately, bear the consequences.  So environmental justice shouldn’t just be a slogan, it should be a goal.  And we have to do more to bring clean, renewable energy to low-income communities.
 
“I also want to say a special word about coal.  We have to move away from coal; everybody understands that (inaudible).  But that does not and should not mean we move away from coal miners, their families, and their communities.  They kept the lights on.  They put the lights on back in the 19th century.  I’m not going to leave them behind.  We need to figure out how we’re going to have a special transition program for coal miners and their communities.  Protecting mine workers’ pensions and health benefits, for example, is essential because as coal has plateaued, a lot of the companies have literally tried to snatch away the benefits that coal miners have earned over time.  And we need to create new economic opportunities in coal communities.  So yes, we’re going to move toward clean, renewable energy as fast as we can move, but we’re going to try to remember and support the people who turned on the lights for much more than a century and not leave them behind (inaudible). 
 
“In the weeks ahead, I’ll be announcing more plans to make our cars, our buildings, our industries more efficient to save Americans more money on your electric bills, and to make our manufacturing more competitive.  I’m also looking with great anticipation toward the meeting in Paris in December, where I know from the work that is going on, there is a very high hope and expectation that there can be a new, ambitious, lasting international climate agreement to be accepted.  And if it is successful, which I hope and believe it will be, it will be built on the foundation that President Obama and I laid in Copenhagen.  I appreciate Carol mentioning it because it was a great example of how important it is to stay focused and stay relentless in dealing with these big problems.
 
“So when we got to Copenhagen – I went ahead of the President, frankly, to determine whether it was worth the President coming, because nobody was sure what would happen.  There were big splits between the developed economies, the developing economies.  The developing economies basically wanted a Kyoto 2.0 where they would take none of the responsibility, they would have none of the accountability; that would primarily rest with the developed economies, and there was no recognition of how the future would be one dominated by Chinese emissions, Indian emissions, other developing countries. 
 
“So the President and I were trying – so I called.  I told him to come.  I said, “It’s very contentious, it’s very difficult,” as Carol remembers, “but come and let’s see if we can get something accomplished.”  So he came and we couldn’t find the Chinese.  I mean, we kept calling.  And after all, it’s the President and Secretary of State saying, “We’d love to meet with you.”  “Oh, so sorry.  On the way to the airport.”  “Oh, so sorry.  Can’t find.”  I mean, it was just quite remarkable.  So we sent out scouts to go through this huge convention center in Copenhagen and said, “Find the Chinese.”  And they did.  And they reported back to us and said, “They’re in a secret meeting with the Indians, the South Africans, and the Brazilians.”  I looked at the President and the President looked at me and we said, “That sounds like a meeting we need to attend.”
 
“So we weren’t in a motorcade, so this was a footcade.  We marched through that convention center, we went up these stairs – I mean, they were way out in the far corner, and they were meeting in a room; they covered it all up with drapes like that, and they had Chinese security at the top of the stairs, and the President and I were going – his legs are a lot longer than mine, so I’m running up the stairs, he’s walking up the stairs.  We get to the top of the stairs and the Chinese are pointing in the absolute opposite direction, like, “No, there, there,” and our advance person went, “No, there, there.”  So we turned – we go right at the top of the stairs and there is the room, and the Chinese security guys have their arms out; they’re trying to prevent us from getting in.  And so the President is tall; he pushes through.  Then their arms go back up and I’m thinking, “Okay, really?”  So I go under and get into the room.”  And the President says, “We’ve been looking for you.”  And so we pull up chairs; we did have our translator with us, and a big argument started back and forth, like, oh, what were we doing there?  But we just basically said, “Look, guys, this is about your future.  You can leapfrog.  You can make different decisions.  You can keep developing, but doing it with clean, renewable energy.  And we want you to be part of what the world needs to do.”  And it was at that meeting that they did.  The Chinese agreed to begin to look – take a hard look at themselves. 
 
“So, as president, I will build on what we get done in Paris and keep pushing it.  It will always be a high priority of mine.  Because after all, I think we have to use every tool we have.  There is no planet B.  This is it.  And my pledge to you and certainly my great hope is that we will be partners from day one; we will be ready on the – well, we can go to the inauguration, but literally on day one we will start being ready, because the work will have to be done ahead of time.  I’ve already told Gene and Carol that – to start renewing the executive actions that need to be renewed, looking at the legislation that needs to be introduced, setting up whatever the follow-up to Paris is.  This will be a huge part of what I try to do in my very first weeks in office, and I am so grateful that you will be there with me.
 
“Thank you all very much.”
 
 
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For Immediate Release, November 9, 2015