Endorsing and Electing

Voting is one of the most important things you can do for the environment!

Accountability is the backstop for advocacy work. It means not only "knowing the score," but electing people to office who care about our issues, and will ultimately make better scores.

The Conservation Political Action Committee (CPAC) works to educate, engage, and mobilize citizens and candidates on behalf of the environment. NCLCV's Conservation PAC uses the power of endorsements and political activities to close the loop on the cycle of accountability. Our goal is to build an environmental majority at the State Legislature so that we can effectively turn your environmental values into North Carolina policies.

We work directly in elections to endorse and elect candidates for state office who will prioritize the issues we care about-- our North Carolina landscapes, our quality of life, and the health of our communities.

While we know that all elections—local to federal—are critical, our focus remains on the state legislature and Council of State offices. So please visit the Conservation PAC website to find out who we are endorsing in our statewide races (even years).

But in every election cycle, you should find out where your local candidates stand on issues affecting our environment. Attend candidate forums, ask questions, visit their campaign websites—Get them on the record for their positions on clean air, safe water, land conservation, holding polluters accountable, better transit options…and then hold them accountable for making better environmental decisions!

A Look Back: Why an Environmental Group Goes Political

NCLCV has been working on environmental issues for over 40 years. We have tackled issues ranging from nuclear power plants to land conservation, pollution prevention to transportation, air to water, and many more. We have fought these battles in the media, in the courtroom, before state Boards and Commissions, and at the General Assembly. We have been lawyers, citizens, teachers, parents, and lobbyists.

But after more than 30 years, we came to a very important conclusion: no matter how effective an advocate you are, no matter how good your lobbyist is, it doesn’t matter very much if the decision-makers you are trying to move don’t care about your issues.

So in 1999, NCLCV established the Conservation PAC to help environmentalists be more political, and politicians be more environmental. We are one of the few environmental groups in North Carolina who can directly engage in elections. Our goal is to elect an environmental majority to the General Assembly, so that we can pass stronger environmental laws to protect our environment.