Last month, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund took the unprecedented step of endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, after only one debate between the Democratic candidates and months before the first vote in the Democratic primaries will be cast. That was a big mistake. It’s far too early in this primary for the nation’s most powerful environmental political organization to endorse.
In 2004, LCV’s endorsement of John Kerry before the New Hampshire primary was unprecedented in its early timing, but at least came after Kerry’s strong victory in the Iowa caucuses. There is no such defense today.
Furthermore, by LCV’s own metrics, Clinton has the weakest environmental record of the Democratic candidates. Bernie Sanders is the highest rated candidate on the LCV scorecard, as well as the scorecard put out by my organization, the Climate Hawks Vote PAC. Martin O’Malley was the first and so far the only candidate to release a comprehensive presidential climate agenda.
LCV is a good political organization — one the best in the country working on any issue. The millions of dollars it raises and spends each year and the millions of voters it... Read more
