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Enviro Groups Aid Dems, Try to Regain Relevance

Launching a new front in the ever-expanding universe of outside groups seeking to influence elections, a coalition of five well-known organizations is preparing a coordinated campaign involving television advertising, radio advertising and impressive field programs, among other techniques, to help Democrats capture enough seats in the Senate to advance serious global warming initiatives.

The campaign, strategists for the groups said, comes as issues surrounding the environment, and particularly energy-related matters, are becoming less esoteric and tying in more with pocketbook economic concerns. And after a huge electoral victory in 2006, wins they can take credit for in 2008 would return the environmental movement to a position of serious relevance within the Democratic Party and on the national political landscape, a position the movement has not held in the past decade or more.

The groups, including the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, Clean Water Action, Environment America and Defenders of Wildlife, will coordinate their efforts on behalf of Democratic Senate candidates Tom Udall, in New Mexico, Mark Udall, in Colorado, and Jeanne Shaheen, in New Hampshire. Focusing on the Senate, legislative specialists for several of the organizations said, is important to advancing their agenda because global warming bills can already pass the House, but several pieces of legislation have failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to pass the Senate.

Swaying voter opinion based solely on environmental issues is a tall order. Even in Western states like New Mexico and Colorado, where recreational activity associated with nature is more common than in the rest of the nation, few voters say the environment is their most important cause. But the link in voters' minds to something they will cast ballots on, the groups hope, is only a few steps away.

As the economy slips deeper into negative territory, motorists will likely head to the polls to pay four dollars for a gallon of gas next month, money that eventually finds its way back to the Middle East.
Energy legislation that the groups have long opposed, they say, has been a root cause of that problem, and lower-emitting cars with better gas mileage will not only ease the cost at the pump, but could free the country from dependence on foreign oil. Add economic issues and national security issues together, and energy policy suddenly becomes an appealing topic to a near-majority of voters. "We've been trying to get the public to get that connection," said Tony Massaro, a senior vice president for political affairs at the League of Conservation Voters.

"As an issue, it hits people in their pocketbooks," Sierra Club political director Cathy Duval. And, she said, it's another way candidates this year can frame their message of change. "We've been doing things wrong, and it's time to change and start doing things differently."

The three initial targets are obvious places to start: The Udall cousins have nearly perfect scores with the League of Conservation Voters during their tenures in Congress. Tom, in New Mexico, co-founded a congressional caucus dedicated to finding alternative energies, while Mark, in Colorado, led his state's Outward Bound program for a decade. Since the 1950s, the Udall family has been known for their efforts to preserve natural lands in the Southwest. In New Hampshire, Shaheen, the former governor, advanced alternative energy legislation, while her rival, incumbent Republican Senator John Sununu, votes with environmentalists only half the time. In all three states, Democrats have healthy leads in the polls.

Environmental groups have been involved in campaigns for generations, but only in 2006 did such a powerhouse group of politically-active organizations band together on one race. Last cycle, the groups joined to help oust California Republican Richard Pombo, the chair of the House Resources Committee and a close ally of oil companies and big business. Thanks largely to millions spent by environmental groups, Pombo lost his seat to Democrat Jerry McNerney, coincidentally a wind energy expert.

Getting rid of Pombo gave the groups a big momentum boost. "Together, we could raise the issue, we could coordinate our work," Duval, of the Sierra Club, said of the lessons learned in 2006. "We could really make a difference and flex our muscles around this race." This year, she said, the goal is to "be able to say the environmental community really made a difference."

After first coming to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s - thanks in large part to Mark and Tom Udall's fathers, Mo and Stewart Udall - the environmental movement's impact seemed to wane in the 1990s. Now, spurred by renewed interest in climate change and Al Gore, the impact of energy costs on family finances, environmentalism is making a comeback, especially in Western states. "The movement has gathered clout in recent years," said Colorado-based political analyst Floyd Ciruli. Now, "you couldn't run for office in this state without having some level of credibility with environmental issues."

Republicans seem to realize the danger of being labeled extreme on environmental issues, especially if it means an association with oil companies, perhaps the only profession with lower approval ratings than Congress. In Colorado, Mark Udall's GOP opponent, former Rep. Bob Schaffer, has staked out his own moderate stands on the environment, appropriating Democratic Governor Bill Ritter's position on the biggest issue of the day, drilling on the Roan Plateau, on the Western Slope of the Rockies just a few miles northeast of Grand Junction.

"Environmental issues are always important in Colorado elections,"
said Schaffer manager Dick Wadhams, who is also chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. Wadhams, who worked on campaigns for former Governor Bill Owens and retiring Senator Wayne Allard, has fought these battles before. "Environmental extremists like these organizations always attack the Republican candidate, no matter who it is."

Like political strategists for the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, Wadhams said the underlying issue that appeals to voters is more than just environmentalism. "What Republicans have to show is that they have a sense of balance between the economy and the environment," he said."What these environmentalists always try to do is to portray anything connected to energy as bad. Well guess what?
Energy is connected to a lot of jobs in Colorado."

A Udall spokeswoman signaled that the issue is likely to come up in the future. "We certainly are seeing that people are very interested in the renewable energy industry overall," campaign communications director Taylor West said. "With gas prices the way they are and people really feeling a sense that our dependence on foreign oil is probably bigger than it's ever been, that's where the attention has kind of ramped up on that issue."

The difference between the two on the environment, both campaigns agreed, will be obvious. "Bob Schaffer's background is oil and gas.
He's been making quite a lot of money on it," West said. "It's one of the starkest contrasts between the two candidates." Wadhams agreed with the last sentiment: "They don't understand the importance of energy jobs in Colorado," he said, referring repeatedly to "liberal trust fund elitists." "I love this debate," he concluded.

The debate on environmental issues between Mark Udall and Schaffer is likely to be the most heated of the three states, but if the coalition has their way, some version will be repeated in contests between Shaheen and Sununu and between Tom Udall and the winner of a contested GOP primary between Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce.

While no plans currently exist to expand the coalition's efforts into other states with important races, that could change. If it does, the effort to change the environmental debate will move to a national stage. For now, the environmental groups committed to spending heavily on the Democratic candidates' behalf are taking the next step, after beating Pombo in 2006, toward political relevancy on a much larger scale.

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