League of Conservation Voters Endorses Kerry

The League of Conservation Voters has officially endorsed John Kerry for president, marking the first time in the organization’s history that it has backed a candidate prior to the first primaries. Kerry, four-term Democratic senator from Massachusetts, has the best environmental voting record of the Democratic candidates, with an LCV score of 96 percent (Lieberman, whose supporters are reportedly frustrated with the decision, comes in second at 93 percent). LCV’s board of directors has made unseating Bush a priority, and expressed hope that their early endorsement would raise the profile of environmental issues in the coming race. Kerry seems amenable to their plans: “I intend to put the environment front and center in this race because it is squarely in the center of our lives,” he said at an LCV event in New Hampshire.