November, 06 2018, 11:00pm EDT
350 Action Responds to the 2018 Midterm Elections
WASHINGTON
In response to the results of the 2018 Midterm elections, 350 Action Executive Director May Boeve gave the following statement:
"We're celebrating the dozens of Climate Progressives who were elected on Tuesday night, helping Democrats take back the House and win control of State Houses across the country. The task ahead of them and us is clear: fighting the fossil fuel industry. The same oil and gas companies that have been sowing doubt about climate change for decades are infiltrating our democracy at every turn, from the ballot box to Capitol Hill. As we saw in Washington and Colorado, where we lost key climate initiatives, Big Oil and their allies will spend whatever it takes to protect their profits.
"Despite many hurdles, organized progressive communities overcame corporate money in dozens of races around the country this November. Candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Deb Haaland, and Ilhan Omar ran on platforms supporting a phase out of fossil fuels and toward 100% renewable energy, and won. We may never be able to outspend oil and gas executives, so it's our job to build a political movement large enough that our voices drown out their dirty money.
"As we look toward 2020, it's more important than ever that those holding and running for office take a stand against the fossil fuel industry's undue influence on our democracy. We need public officials who refuse to be bought and paid for by Big Oil and can stand up for groundbreaking climate policy like a Green New Deal. It's time to say 'no' to fossil fuel money and invest in renewable energy solutions that put millions to work in family-supporting union jobs. When it comes to uprooting the corporate stranglehold on our political system and preventing the worst impacts of climate change, there's not a moment to lose."
350 Action is the independent political action arm of the non-profit, non-partisan climate justice group 350.org.
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