CLCV's Environmental Voter Guide for November 6th, 2018

The last few weeks have been particularly painful and scary for women and vulnerable populations across the country. It’s hard not to feel powerless when we see the continuing abuses of power by Donald Trump and his allies in Congress – but there is hope.

Trump may not be on the ballot this November, but his allies in Congress are. And this year California is home to some of the closest contests in the nation. What’s more, we have an opportunity to elect champions up and down the ballot who will lead the resistance against Trump and reject the politics of pollution.

We need your outrage and energy focused on November 6th where we have an opportunity to hold some of the worst attackers of our values accountable. Below is our statewide ballot guide to share with friends and family. Turn in your ballot as soon as possible and help get out the vote! It’s all on the line this year.

Statewide Propositions

Each election the CLCV team carefully reviews the propositions on the ballot, analyzes their environmental impacts, and makes recommendations on how our members can vote.

Prop 1 – YES: The Veterans and Affordable Housing Act will provide $1.4 billion to help our neighbors struggling with homelessness, veterans, and individuals with disabilities access stable housing. CLCV recognizes how critical addressing homelessness is to building a better and healthier California, and we were among the first endorsers of this measure. Vote YES!

Prop 2 – YES: A quarter of the nation’s homeless population reside in California. Prop 2 allows the use of unspent money, originally allocated to fund mental health services, to be used to address the problem. It will provide permanent supportive housing for people who need mental health services and are at risk of homelessness or currently homeless. Vote YES!

Prop 3 – Vote your priorities. CLCV weighed the pros and cons of Prop 3 heavily, but we ultimately have no strong recommendation to support or oppose this initiative. There are some very good elements of Prop 3 that we support, not the least of which is substantial funding for low-income communities in dire need of safe drinking water. But these benefits come with significant trade-offs. If Prop 3 passes, it would permanently take funds from California’s landmark program to combat climate change and spend them on water storage projects that are potentially less environmental-friendly. We are also concerned that some of these funds would be allocated to federal and state water agencies without appropriate oversight and accountability. Do the benefits outweigh the costs? We encourage environmental voters to decide based on their own priorities.

Prop 5 – NO: Prop 5 would take $1 billion away from vital local services and schools annually. It does nothing to help seniors or families struggling to find housing. Instead Prop 5 reduces vitally needed resources for local governments to provide critical services – and that includes resources for programs to mitigate pollution and protect the environment. Vote NO!

Prop 6 – NO: Prop 6 will annually eliminate $4.7 billion in investments meant for light rail, pedestrian-friendly pathways, and additional public transportation and transit projects that reduce climate emissions. What’s worse, Prop 6 creates new barriers that will make it more difficult to fund public transportation and infrastructure projects in the future. Vote NO!

Prop 12 – YES: Farms animals are exempted from animal cruelty laws. Prop 12 would improve the inhumane conditions of animals raised for livestock such as chickens, pigs, and cows. It also provides an important enforcement mechanism to ensure the law is followed. Vote Yes!

Statewide Candidates

Governor – Gavin Newsom
As Mayor of San Francisco, Newsom passed the nation’s first mandatory composting legislation, first plastic bag ban, and first Styrofoam container ban. As Lt. Governor, Newsom has used his position on the State Lands Commission to guide the retirement of California’s last nuclear power plant, facilitated the termination of two offshore oil operations, and opposed Federal efforts to open our coasts to new offshore oil drilling. Simply put, Gavin Newsom is ready to lead the resistance against Trump’s attacks against our state’s environmental protections on day one.

Lieutenant Governor – Eleni Kounalakis
As Ambassador to Hungary, Kounalakis pushed their government to become the first signers of the Paris Climate Accords. Now, Kounalakis is making addressing climate change and protecting the environment a centerfold of her campaign, including her pledge to oppose offshore oil drilling on State Lands Commission. Check out her featured TV ad here (along with CLCV’s endorsement.)

Superintendent of Public Instruction – Tony Thurmond
As an Assembly Member, Thurmond has earned a 100% lifetime score from CLCV. Thurmond passed and supported key legislation to punish polluters to help keep neighborhoods safe, arguing that illness was one of the top reasons that teachers couldn’t effectively teach and students couldn’t successfully learn. Thurmond wants to continue these efforts and work to increase environmental education and the value of civics.

Insurance Commissioner – Ricardo Lara
In his time in the Legislature, Senator Lara earned a 90% CLCV lifetime score. He supported key climate and clean energy bills, authored legislation to tackle the most harmful air pollutants, and supported efforts to ensure more funding from California’s climate and clean energy program is being spent to improve air quality in California’s most impacted communities. As Insurance Commissioner Lara plans to prioritize work on how climate and will impact on the cost of insurance.

Attorney General – Xavier Becerra
As a Congressman Xavier Becerra received a 92% LCV lifetime environmental score for his over two decades of public service. Now as Attorney General, Becerra has been leading the charge to protect the environment from the Trump Administration. In fact, he has 44 active lawsuits against the federal government — 24 of them are for the sake of protecting laws that do everything from increasing our energy efficiency to improving air quality. Becerra stands with the environment, and we stand with him!

Treasurer – Fiona Ma
During her time in the Assembly, Ma earned a CLCV lifetime score of 92%. Ma authored key environmental legislation including a ban on harmful phthalates in toys and increased adoption of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. As Treasurer Ma will support transit-oriented development and renewable energy project financing. She is also interested in moving investments for CalSPERs and CalSTERs out of polluting industries.

Secretary of State – Alex Padilla
During his time in the State Senate, Padilla earned a 93% lifetime score from CLCV. In his capacity as Secretary of State, Padilla has worked to increase voter participation, civic engagement and increase campaign finance transparency. Notably Padilla joined CLCV in supporting the passage of the California DISCLOSE Act last year to provide clearer disclosure on who is funding ballot measures and independent expenditures and make it more difficult for corporate polluters to hide their expenditures. Re-elect Alex Padilla.

Controller – Betty Yee
In her capacity as Controller, Yee has worked to elevate climate policy in a number of areas including enhancing the stewardship of state lands and waterways by incorporating sea-level rise and energy intensity considerations; protecting and building on environmental standards that exceed federal standards; and ensuring environmental equity across all communities by including the participation of underserved communities in planning and policy development. She deserves another term.

Click here to see CLCV’s complete list of endorsements, including our recommendations for Congress, State Senate, and Assembly.

Thank you for being a member of CLCV and for your commitment to protecting our environment and our people. The most important thing you can do is vote, but you can amplify your impact by sharing our endorsements on Facebook.

P.S. Can you chip in today to make sure we have the resources we need to elect environmental champions this November?

Shopping Basket

The month of March is Public Lands Month, and we’ve got some big goals. We’re pushing for 5 national monument designations while fighting for clean water, Indigenous land protection, ecosystem conservation, and increasing access to nature. 

But we need your help to make these campaigns a success →