Announcing Greenpeace USA Votes – a new political action committee – and its first endorsement: the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA (March 18, 2024)–Greenpeace USA Votes – a new political action committee (PAC) focused on electing climate champions and fighting for a healthy planet, environmental justice, and a people-powered democracy – announced today it is entering the political arena. Greenpeace USA Votes Chief Program Officer, Tefere Gebre, said: “For more than 50 years, the Greenpeace movement has exercised the right to bear witness to and expose environmental destruction — even when that has meant confronting greedy corporations and their political backers. That is the soul of this movement. And today Greenpeace USA Votes announces we are joining the fight to elect climate champions and pass transformative climate policies.
“Until we confront and dismantle the corporate greed that values profit over people, we won’t have a well-functioning democracy. Greenpeace USA Votes is now here and able to do important election-related work. We need every tool in our toolbox ready and able to fight Big Oil and their destructive ways – from Cancer Alley, to the halls of Congress, to the urban oil fields in Wilmington, CA.”
Greenpeace USA Votes has chosen to make its first endorsement for the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California, a grassroots coalition fighting to “keep the law” that would protect nearly 3 million Californians from toxic oil drilling in their neighborhoods – the vast majority of whom are Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian immigrants, and working class. Senate Bill 1137, signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022, was almost immediately challenged by the oil and gas industry, who dumped $20 million into a misleading signature-gathering campaign. The law is currently paused and the referendum will be on the ballot this November.
Greenpeace USA Votes California Climate Campaign Director, Zachary Norris, said: “Even in our ‘green’ California, the oil and gas industry moves in insidious and anti-democratic ways. An overwhelming number of California legislators take money from fossil fuel companies, and many of these elected leaders then spend their time in office undercutting any progress for a safe, healthy, and prosperous state. That’s why Greenpeace USA Votes is ready to fight for climate champions that will put our future first. We’re also endorsing the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California to uphold an important law meant to protect California communities. The Campaign is built by and for Californians who have been fighting for a decade to protect where we live, work, go to school, and play from dangerous toxic oil wells.
“The only way we can beat Big Oil and defend environmental justice is with people-power. This fight to get climate champions into office represents this country’s best opportunity to show the oil and gas industry that they can't poison us, hijack our democracy, and get away with it in order to rake in record profits.”
For more information on Greenpeace USA Votes, please visit greenpeaceusavotes.org.
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Contact: Katie Nelson, Greenpeace USA Votes Senior Communications Specialist, +1 (678) 644-1681
Greenpeace USA Votes is a political action committee created to build the political power needed to secure a healthy planet and a people-powered democracy. Formed in late 2023, it seeks to enact the meaningful change needed to fight environmental injustice and avert the worst of the climate crisis, while simultaneously maintaining political independence – neither giving money to politicians nor endorsing them. Greenpeace USA Votes is funded by everyday people across the country who are concerned about our climate and the health of our democracy. All donors are disclosed pursuant to state and federal campaign finance laws. To learn more about Greenpeace USA Votes and its work, please visit greenpeaceusavotes.org.
Press Contact:Katie Nelson, Greenpeace USA Votes Senior Communications Specialist, +1 (678) 644-1681