People Power
5 Things to Know About Being a Poll Worker and Protecting the Right to Vote
Aug 29, 2024
Credit: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr, cc-by-sa-2.0
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Credit: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr, cc-by-sa-2.0
Each month, LCV shares five stories about the impact of our work. This month, we’re focusing on Tim Walz’s impressive climate record, our previous success and plans for mobilizing LCV members to elect climate champions, and the many ways LCV and our state affiliates help everyday people benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) clean energy investments.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate has supercharged her already groundbreaking bid for the presidency and further energized climate action advocates around the country.
Walz has been widely recognized as a leader on climate action and environmental protections since becoming governor. His accomplishments include signing legislation that commits Minnesota to achieving 100% clean electricity by 2040, increases access to electric vehicles, assesses the cumulative impacts of environmental injustice in communities, and replaces lead pipes to ensure safe drinking water for all.
LCV’s state affiliate, Conservation Minnesota, has proudly partnered with Walz to reduce dangerous pollution, protect and conserve lands and waters, and address the climate crisis in the North Star State. Walz was also a guest speaker during the 2023 Conservation Voters Movement conference — the annual gathering of LCV and our 30+ affiliates. There, he inspired us with his view of public service, saying, “Political capital is meant to be burned to improve lives,” and shared his views on climate change, equity, and the critical the role of unions and agriculture in the clean energy economy:
Addressing climate change has been a theme throughout Walz’s political career:
All told, Governor Walz has signed over 40 climate initiatives into law, including many that bring competitive, high-paying jobs to Minnesota.
In contrast to Walz, Republican candidate for Vice President JD Vance has flip-flopped on climate change and the role of fossil fuels causing it. Despite expressing concern about the climate crisis four years ago, by the time he ran for Senate in 2022, Vance changed his position and began denying its reality. He and Trump regularly criticize what they call the “green new scam” when referring to the Biden-Harris administration’s investments in renewable energy. They’ve pledged to expand oil and gas production and to end support for clean energy and electric vehicles.
Like Walz, Vice President Harris has been a climate champion throughout her career, winning a $50 million settlement from Big Oil while serving as the California attorney general, advocating for electric school buses during her time in the Senate and as vice president, and casting the deciding vote for the historic Inflation Reduction Act, among other climate actions.
LCV Action Fund has endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket and applauds Vice President Harris for choosing a running mate who shares her commitment to building on the Biden-Harris administration’s historic climate action and clean energy progress. Learn about Vice President Harris’ climate action record and the reasons behind LCV Action Fund’s endorsement of her presidential campaign.
Electing climate champions up and down the ballot is crucial, and this year’s elections will likely be decided by razor-thin margins. Between now and Election Day, GreenRoots — LCV’s member mobilization program and one of the largest coordinated field programs in progressive politics — will be enlisting LCV members to volunteer to help elect LCV Action Fund-endorsed candidates in battleground states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Recently, LCV announced a historic $2.5 million investment in GreenRoots, which will engage thousands of LCV members across the country to knock on doors, make calls, write letters, and turn out voters in support of climate champions, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz, as well as U.S. Senate and U.S. House candidates in 15 states.
Since 2012, GreenRoots has engaged tens of thousands of LCV members across the country to help elect dozens of climate champions to federal offices.
In 2022 alone, GreenRoots organizers made nearly 200,000 phone calls to LCV members, recruiting more than 8,500 members to complete a total of 16,500 volunteer shifts, and sent over 350,000 text messages to mobilize LCV members to volunteer and turn out voters for endorsed candidates. This work helped 36 U.S. House and Senate candidates win their elections — an 80% success rate. GreenRoots 2022 highlights include:
“LCV is all-in with our largest investment ever to mobilize thousands of our members across the country to help elect climate and environmental justice champions,” said LCV Vice President of Field Jennessa Agnew.
Together, the historic federal clean energy investments included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), coupled with ambitious state policies are decreasing emissions, building climate resilience in communities, cutting energy costs, and creating good-paying jobs across the country.
This month marks the second anniversary of this historic legislation, and the progress it has launched is transforming communities and our clean energy future.
The bridge between federal clean energy funding and state action requires collaboration with communities as well as county and municipal governments to work through policies, navigate funding streams, and build programs to benefit communities.
In Illinois, with the deep involvement of LCV’s state affiliate, Illinois Environmental Council, federal and state policies have combined to launch $600 million in clean energy investments. See how Illinois communities are involved in implementing state and federal climate investments:
Progress like this is happening in states across the country. Watch Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens explain how she’s maximizing IRA benefits in her state and getting benefits into the hands of consumers:
As the IRA’s federal clean energy investments flow to states, municipalities, and communities, state and local climate champions are putting those funds to work, lowering emissions, reshaping the energy economy, and creating good-paying jobs. See what’s happening near you in LCV’s overview of state clean energy wins — one piece of the puzzle to successful IRA implementation.
To help implement the federal clean energy investments included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), LCV’s 30+ state affiliates use strategies and tactics that are grounded in the unique realities of each state.
Some of our affiliates work with local partners on community solar projects. Some work with lawmakers and utility companies to secure statewide regulatory and policy changes and match federal funding. And others are connecting with residents one-by-one to help them take advantage of the IRA’s energy savings and tax credits. Two states, North Carolina and Wisconsin, are using different approaches to meet constituents where they are and help them access the IRA’s benefits.
The staff at LCV’s North Carolina affiliate (NCLCV) understand that navigating access to federal clean energy resources can feel overwhelming, and they want to make the IRA’s energy savings and other financial benefits accessible to all. So, they created an easy-to-use website that connects people to the information they need.
Targeting use by renters, homeowners, landlords, job seekers, businesses, nonprofits, and local and Tribal governments, North Carolina’s Energy Funds For All website provides handy one-pagers, helpful guides, and quick access to eligibility requirements to help consumers find what they need. The site provides information in nine languages along with the option to connect with a staff person who will help navigate available resources and access benefits.
This initiative has been so successful that NCLCV made its template available for use by LCV’s Pennsylvania affiliate — Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania — who launched their customized version, CleanEnergyFunding.org, shortly after. To date, the sites have seen more than 10,000 visitors, helping them access IRA-related benefits, including electric vehicle tax credits, clean energy jobs training, weatherization assistance, clean energy financing, and flood prevention measures.
NCLCV is also presenting their toolkit across North Carolina, working with partner organizations as well as local and municipal governments from Durham to Princeville to spread the word.
Wisconsin Conservation Voters (WCV) launched a door-to-door canvassing campaign to help local residents, businesses, and nonprofits leverage IRA opportunities. This canvass began in the fall of 2023 and was later expanded in the spring of 2024. To date, WCV’s trained volunteers have knocked on almost 330,000 doors across the state.
This work spreads awareness about the Biden-Harris administration’s historic clean energy investments while helping to make people’s daily lives more comfortable, reduce their energy bills, and protect our environment. Since WCV launched their canvass last fall, five other LCV state affiliates have begun similar programs to inform people about IRA benefits, including Georgia, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
Making sure that constituents know about and can access IRA benefits is key to putting its funding to use to lower emissions, create safer communities, grow clean energy jobs, and save consumers money. LCV’s state affiliates are continually innovating to do just that.
To fully understand the transformational impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), it’s important to take stock of the millions of real people in real communities who are benefiting from it every day. From newly employed clean energy workers to renters experiencing lower energy costs, from communities breathing cleaner air to households saving money on electric appliances, the IRA is catalyzing our energy economy and bringing tangible benefits to people across the country.
Darrell G. Seki Sr. was born at Red Lake, served in the Vietnam War, and has been chairman of the Red Lake Nation since 2014. When first campaigning to become chairman, he heard time and again from residents about trouble with the electric co-op and its high prices — and a seed began germinating in his mind.
Seki envisioned a solar solution and started working to bring clean, affordable energy to Red Lake. Rooftop solar has since been installed at the Tribe’s government and workforce development centers, and a community-wide solution is now in the works.
The planned utility-scale solar project, made possible by the IRA, will provide enough clean electricity to power everyone on the Red Lake Nation Reservation, which spans more than 800,000 acres and is home to about 5,500 people. Due to the size of the 200-acre project, in addition to providing emissions-free electricity for residents, the project will produce enough power to sell, creating a new revenue stream for the Tribe.
Thanks to the IRA’s change in the tax code, Tribes, which are non-taxable entities, can now receive direct payments in lieu of clean energy tax credits covering up to 70% of solar projects’ costs. Bob Blake, a Red Lake Nation citizen and owner of the solar company working on the Red Lake project, said, “None of this happens without the IRA. Period.”
Max Georgeson found his dream job, thanks to funding from the IRA’s federal clean energy investments. After graduating from the University of Nevada, Georgeson first worked as a Panasonic battery engineer and now works as a data analyst in the lithium-ion battery industry in Reno.
Nevada’s clean energy employment boom is due in large part to the IRA’s clean energy investments, which have kick-started the state’s economy and provided thousands of good-paying jobs like Georgeson’s.
His passion for clean energy seeps from his professional life to his interactions with family and friends. He readily shares information about his work and the importance of sustainability to help people embrace new technologies — including recently persuading his parents to buy their first electric car.
Don Beduhn is a master gardener, native plant enthusiast, grandfather, hiker, and resident of Madison, Wisconsin. He’s also a cost-conscious and savvy consumer. Beduhn’s interest in sustainability prompted him to take a number of measures over the past several years, including switching to an electric car, upgrading attic insulation, purchasing an electric heat pump, and installing rooftop solar panels.
His solar project was completed in two phases, allowing him to spread out costs. The cost for the most recent set of panels was offset by the IRA, which allowed Beduhn to obtain a federal income tax refund within three weeks, using just a few clicks in his tax preparation software.
As a result, his electric bill is zero during the summer months, he’s reducing his carbon footprint, and he’s leaving a better world for his grandchildren and others who follow.
The IRA is the world’s largest-ever investment in climate and clean energy to date. Passing such a momentous bill took years of work from LCV, our state affiliates, and climate action activists across the country. We are thrilled to see these investments benefiting everyday people in communities nationwide.
THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW
The Biden-Harris administration has finalized strong rules to limit pollution from cars and trucks — and worked to pass and is implementing unprecedented clean transportation investments and tax incentives. At the same time, Big Oil's allies in Congress are working to undermine our progress. We must call on pro-environment officials to fight back against these fossil-fueled threats.
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©2024 League of Conservation Voters