Environment America Action Fund’s GreenHouse Project helps turn the House greener

November 8, 2018 

Contact: Mark Morgenstein, [email protected], (o) 303-573-5556, (c) 678-427-1671

Dozens of new U.S. Representatives, including at least seven supported by Environment America Action Fund’s GreenHouse Project, will create a more environmentally-friendly landscape nationwide come January.

Environment America Action Fund (EAAF) strategically selected 10 races where voters had a clear choice between a solid, pro-environment candidate and a candidate with a record of voting against clean air, clean water, climate action and other environmental values. These swing districts have been represented for years by Congresspeople antagonistic to environmental legislation.

EAAF sent a series of nearly 600,000 pieces of direct mail, 12 million digital ad impressions, and tens of thousands of live phone calls to a targeted universe of environmentally-motivated, persuadable voters. As it stands now, at least 70 percent of the GreenHouse candidates will be in the next freshman class of Representatives.

Congratulations to:

• Mike Levin, CA-49 

• Sean Casten, IL-06

• Dean Phillips, MN-03

• Andy Kim NJ-03

• Xochitl Torres Small, NM-02

• Susan Wild, PA-07

• Kim Schrier, WA-08 

An eighth GreenHouse candidate, Anthony Brindisi, in New York’s 22nd congressional district, has declared victory, with absentee ballots outstanding.

“The American people have spoken, voting for candidates who will provide better oversight of an administration intent on rolling back environmental protections that were passed with broad, bipartisan support,” said Ed Johnson, treasurer of the Environment America Action Fund. “We’re hopeful that the incoming Congress can agree on facilitating the nationwide transition to generating all our power from renewable energy sources, funding our national parks, and defending against unpopular attacks on environmental protections including the Clean Water Rule and the Clean Cars Standards.”

Some highlights include:

• In New Mexico’s 2nd congressional district, Xochitl Torres Small pulled off a huge upset in a race that many wrote-off as unwinnable. An attorney with years of experience working on public lands and clean water policy, Congresswoman-elect Torres Small emphasized protecting public lands and parks and water conservation on the campaign trail. Torres Small defeated Yvette Herrell, a current state representative and real estate investor who opposed environmental proposals while in the state legislature.

• In another major change, Dean Phillips unseated Rep. Erik Paulsen, whose environmental views and votes proved to be greatly out of step with voters in Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District. Compared to 2016 figures, voters on Tuesday night swung the pendulum away from Paulsen by a net 26 percentage points; Congressman-elect Phillips won 56% to 44%.  In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, almost nothing is as sacred as the Boundary Waters. Phillips will be a champion of clean water, while Paulsen voted to cut funding to protect the Boundary Waters and voted to block the Clean Water Rule.

• In California’s 49th congressional district, Congressman-elect Mike Levin will replace the environmentally-unfriendly Rep. Darrell Issa. Levin is an attorney and clean energy leader in Southern California, where he currently serves on the board of the Center for Sustainable Energy in San Diego. On the campaign trail, he repeatedly called for the immediate end to taxpayer-funded subsidies for fossil fuel industries, along with a revenue-neutral carbon tax. Levin defeated Diane Harkey, a former CA State Assembly member who has a poor record of defending environmental protections for our air, land, and water.

The recent United Nations’ climate report made it clear that we still have the opportunity to protect the environment, but we need to make good public policy decisions. The eight candidates elected with the support of the GreenHouse Project have the courage to act without equivocation on environmental issues.

“Going into Election Day, we knew that by a wide margin, the American people rejected the Trump administration’s anti-environmental policies,” said David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, part of Environment America’s national network. “Pro-environmental voters, including those that helped Susan Wild win her district near Philadelphia, proved that. We’re looking forward to a House more in synch with the American people for the next two years and beyond.”