Green groups tout election results as victory for clean energy

Green groups are touting their spending in key congressional races, claiming their efforts helped elect candidates supportive of their push for clean-energy sources. This election cycle, environmental groups spent heavily in races across the country and saw many down-ballot candidates they backed win election. “Where we’ve played, we feel like it’s been great. I think all across the country, you’re going to find whether it’s us, Sierra Club or the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), our issues resonate,” Heather Taylor-Miesle, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, told The Hill. While environmental groups are painting their election work as a victory over the fossil fuel industry, the effect of spending by green groups in races is hard to gauge. Polls show voters ranked environmental issues below the economy and healthcare. The LCV, though, is pointing to a number of new senators who received outside spending from green groups and whom it says will be vocal advocates for clean-energy policies in Washington, including Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and former Maine Gov. Angus King (I)...more