Climate Hawks Vote has issued its first endorsements, both in Hawaii.
Practically the first words Senator Brian Schatz said upon arrival in Washington were: "Climate change is urgent, solveable, human-caused, and real." He's shaken up the Senate by, among other things, organizing the #UpForClimate all-night talkathon. And he told a Netroots Nation 2013 panel the same thing that they heard at Climate Hawks Votes' NN13 off-grid talk the previous day: we need to elect Democrats who will prioritize the climate crisis, not just treat it as yet another Democratic issue.
In short, he's Climate Hawks Votes' prototype politician - a Democrat bringing new energy to Washington, prioritizing the issue, engaging the public, and laying groundwork for bold action on climate.
He's leading on climate while also leading on other issues as well. He's become a Senate champion on protecting and expanding Social Security, gun violence prevention, and similar progressive priorities, and is endorsed by PCCC and MoveOn, among others. Oh, and he's been endorsed by a certain Hawaii-born resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
He's being primaried from the right by Colleen Hanabusa, who voted for HR 2250, one of the many fossil-fuel-powered Republican bills to delay clean air standards.
Please chip in to elect climate hawks in Hawaii and beyond.
Stanley Chang is a Honolulu city councilmember acting locally - leading the charge to ban styrofoam within city limits - and thinking global warming. He's been endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, and he literally studied under Elizabeth Warren (she taught his Harvard Law class). He campaigns hard and his fundraising is excellent. He has a very solid grasp of climate science and how it affects Oahu. And he's putting climate on his website, which matters - among the many factors on our climate leadership scorecard is whether they mention clean energy (good) or advocate climate policies from opposing the Keystone XL pipeline to ending fossil fuel subsidies (much better). He's the most progressive viable candidate in the HI-01 primary to replace Hanabusa; the frontrunner is a DINO who opposes same sex marriage and minimum wage increases.
Like Sen. Schatz, Chang will bring re(new)able energy to Congress. Like Sen. Schatz, he'll also stand up for other progressive causes, from LGBT rights to raising the minimum wage. We're excited to endorse both!
Endorsements matter in persuading voters, but talking to voters matters more. That's why Climate Hawks Vote is backing up these endorsement with organization on the ground in Honolulu. We'll be independent of both campaigns, per federal rules, to help elect both of these climate leaders. That means registering and reaching out to voters... and the obligatory fundraising request.
We did a voter registration drive in Honolulu last night!
Please chip in to elect climate hawks in Hawaii and beyond via ActBlue.
About Climate Hawks Vote: as seen in Grist, is a new SuperPAC I cofounded to elect only those politicians who lead on climate change. Our goal is to elect climate hawk leaders - those who prioritize and speak on the climate crisis. Simply put, climate change is the greatest threat facing the next few generations of humanity, not just another Democratic issue, but too many politicians are afraid to talk about it. We don't tolerate elected officials and candidates taking money from tobacco companies who profit from human suffering and death; we shouldn't tolerate them taking money from coal, oil, and gas companies whose business plan is to cook the planet. Climate Hawks Vote has a complex scorecard covering not just Democratic politicians' votes, but also their leadership on climate change. Join us.
3:50 PM PT: Update: just heard from organizers on the ground - we registered 43 new voters last night!