Energy

Enviros Plan On Spending A Records Amount Of Cash With Days Until Election Day

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Wealthy environmentalist groups are pouring tens of millions of dollars into the midterm election to pick off Republicans in California and elsewhere who promote a skeptical view on climate change.

The League of Conservation Voters announced Thursday that the group expects to spend more than $80 million on all races in the midterms, far more than the record $45 million it spent in 2016. It especially intends on targeting Republicans running for re-election in Democrat-heavy areas.

Activists associated with the group expect to spend $30 million on federal races, $30 million on state elections and $8 million on ballot propositions. The mission is to apply an effective check on the Trump administration, Pete Maysmith, a top strategist for the group, told reporters.

“We have the most anti-environmental president in history, combined with the most anti-environmental Congress in history,” said Maysmith, the league’s top campaign official. “We can’t change the presidency in 2018, but we can change who runs the House.”

The group is focusing the bulk of its ire on GOP Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Steve Knight and Mimi Walters of California, all of whom have generally positioned themselves as antagonistic to many climate activist designs.

Activists are teaming up with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take on Rohrabacher especially.

The league’s ad against Rohrabacher was co-founded with help from Bloomberg’s Independence USA committee, and reminds voters of the congressman’s past comments suggesting climate change is “a fraud.” The ad spot intersperses Rohrabacher’s comments with images of forest fires and other natural disasters.

Bloomberg’s Independence USA PAC reported shoveling $4.4 million on advertising against Rohrabacher and $5.1 million to promote Knight’s Democratic challenger, Katie Hill. His ad purchase focuses also on their climate skepticism as wildfires rage across California.

It is part of Bloomberg’s $11 million final push for Democrats in tight races in California. Democrats need to gain 23 seats to win a majority in the House.

Bloomberg, a former Independent who is now considering running for president in 2020 on a Democratic ticket, is also supporting Senate Democrats in the run-up to the Nov. 6 election. He is unleashing $20 million that will go to the Senate Majority PAC.

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