Before the shocking siege of the Capitol, last week’s huge news came from Georgia voters. Their election of two pro-environment U.S. Senators paved the way for hopeful congressional action on environmental protection and the climate crisis.
The national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) congratulated the two new senators-elect from Georgia, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Together, they bring the U.S. Senate to a 50-50 partisan split. This will empower Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to break the tie in favor of organizing the Senate under the leadership of fellow climate champions, and to push for many of the incoming Biden Administration’s climate action and environmental justice priorities.
LCV President Gene Karpinski said, “We are thrilled to work with Senators-elect Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock and with Majority Leader-designate Chuck Schumer and the entire new pro-environment majority in the Senate to reverse the damage done by the Trump administration and get to work right away on transformational climate action and democracy reform that creates a cleaner, more equitable and just future.”
“Reverend Raphael Warnock is a longtime champion for environmental justice and I’m so proud to have him represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. He will fight hard every day for bold and just solutions to the climate crisis to bring clean water, clean air, and clean energy to all communities in Georgia,” said Georgia Conservation Voters Executive Director Brionté McCorkle.
McCorkle added that Jon Ossoff will also play “a vitally important part of the role that the U.S. Senate can and must play in fighting the climate crisis that impacts the lives of Georgians every day. He and Reverend Raphael Warnock will put people over polluters and prioritize climate justice, clean energy, and clean water, and we’re so excited for them to get to work.”
In Georgia, LCV’s GreenRoots member mobilization program turned out volunteers to work for the election of Warnock and Ossoff in the runoff elections which concluded January 5. During the runoff campaigns, LCV members contacted nearly 25,000 Georgians through phone banking and canvassing, and wrote letters to 4,600 voters.
