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Why CLCV?

Why we are the most effective environmental group in California

We focus on our mission.

At CLCV, we work to elect the best environmental leaders, keep them accountable, and implement strong environmental laws in California. Candidates know that our endorsement is the premier environmental endorsement in the state, because our endorsement process is so rigorous. (We routinely elect over 90% of the candidates that we endorse.) When we advocate for strong environmental laws, legislators and public officials take note of our nearly four decades of success and the more than 30,000 members that back our work.

We are effective and innovative.

CLCV is at the cutting edge of environmental protection. California leads the nation on the environment, and we lead California. We host events of statewide and national import (such as our 2003 and 2007 Presidential Environmental Forums and our Gubernatorial Forums), write letters of support and lobby for national and state legislation, coordinate an annual "Lobby Day" with dozens of other environmental groups (some of whom do not have a permanent presence in Sacramento), hold press conferences with prominent lawmakers from around the country, and fight for environmental justice, among many other things.

Our use of "pass-through" calls is representative of our innovative, effective approach to grassroots political action. When key legislators waver on critical environmental votes, we contact our members in their district during the day. After explaining the issue, we pass their call directly to the legislator's office and generate lightning-fast constituent feedback. Legislators take phone calls from their constituents very seriously; in recent years, we have used this method to help swing the balance on groundbreaking environmental bills (starting with the 2002 Global Warming bill). We have also successfully generated calls and letters in this way to sway Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on important appointments. We can do this because we have a staff of in-house membership representatives who are expertly familiar with our work.

We have a long track record of success.

Our political expertise translates into real results, because we know how to pick our battles and win. We've been instrumental in passing these groundbreaking laws and propositions:

2008's SB 375, a landmark law to reduce global warming through better planning
2008's AB 1879, allowing state agencies to regulate known toxins
2007 ban on phthalates in children's products (AB 1108)
2006 Global Warming Act (AB 32)
2005 California Safe Cosmetics Act (SB 484)
2005 Ban on experimental pesticides in schools (AB 405)
2004 Pesticide Drift Exposure Response Act
2004 Permanent Carl Moyer Program Funding (AB 923; funds a program to replace and retrofit old, polluting diesel engines)
2004 Bottom Trawling Ban (bans a destructive ocean fishing practice)
2003 Clean Air Restoration Act (restores protections rolled back at the federal level)
2003 "700 Series" (reduces agricultural air pollution)
2002 Global Warming Act (first in the nation)
2002 Renewable Portfolio Standard (doubles the amount of renewable power California must use)
2001 Energy Conservation Act
2001 Arsenic Drinking Water Standard
2000 Proposition 12 (Park Bond)
2000 Proposition 13 (Water Bond)
1999 Children's Environmental Health Act
1999 Clean Water and Enforcement Act
1999 Environmental Justice Law (the nation's first, SB 115, authored by current US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis)
and more (see our current alerts and recent victories).

Our membership base gives us clout.

If you put 30,000 conservation voters in one room, how loud would their voices be? Legislators know that some—or many—of their constituents are our members; we bring the clout of collective grassroots action to the table. In addition, of course, our members help achieve our mission by writing letters and making phone calls; often, in swing districts, that constituent contact has made the difference in getting the votes needed in the legislature.

In our election work, our members get the word out in their districts, often by volunteering for the candidates we endorse. Our members, of course, also support our work financially. Our election consulting and expenditures have helped more than 90% of our endorsed candidates win their elections. In the era of term limits, when great environmental leaders are "termed out," our work is critical in replacing them.

It should be clear by now that we can't do it without you. Please join CLCV today and add your voice to ours.