Recently, a delegation from NYLCV joined members of 29 other state LCVs across the country as part of the largest Capitol Hill lobby day in the history of the conservation voter movement. This year’s lobby day centered around three central campaigns: the push for legislation to provide full and permanent funding for the Land and Wildlife Conservation Fund (LWCF), the need to address the PFAS contaminant crisis in our drinking water, and the campaign to introduce and ultimately pass equitable and pragmatic clean energy legislation.
Following a jam-packed day encompassing nearly a dozen meetings with NY Congressional Representatives and their staffs, the NYLCV lobby team helped ensure that our elected officials are keened into and fighting on the right side of these pressing issues.
On the LWCF front, the lobby team pushed legislators to build off the momentum of the landmark legislation passed earlier this year permanently reauthorizing the Fund, calling upon them to support newly introduced bills (HR 3195 & S. 1081) guaranteeing the full $900 million appropriation to the Fund every year. In the past, Congress has almost always failed to provide this full allotment to the LWCF often falling well short of the Fund’s intended mandate.
To address the PFAS-drinking-water contaminant crisis, NYLCV delegates called upon our elected officials to support a flotilla of PFAS-centered bills and to join the newly formed PFAS congressional task force. PFAS are a suite of roughly 4500 man-made chemicals, most typically used in fire-suppressing foam, fire-proof furniture, anti-stick cookware, and food packaging, that when leached into drinking water supplies can have severe adverse mental and physical health effects. With the likelihood of PFAS contamination high across the entire state, the NYLCV staff highlighted to our elected officials the importance and need for NY Representatives to take the lead in addressing this burgeoning crisis.
Finally, when meeting with our elected officials, NYLCV made sure to emphasize the need for meaningful climate legislation on the federal level. More specifically, we called upon our elected officials to become a part of and help to lead the national LCV Clean Energy for All campaign to move the U.S to 100% clean energy in an equitable and efficient manner.
All in all, this year’s lobby day allowed NYLCV to connect, collaborate, and ensure that NY and its representatives are and continue to remain at the forefront of protecting our environment at the federal level. Moving forward, NYLCV will continue to press our elected officials to be leaders in the field.