Demis Foster
Winter 2017 Director’s Message
On the heels of CVNM Action Fund’s endorsement of Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham for governor, we are meticulously planning for the 2018 elections. Our partnership with Rep. Lujan Grisham is strong, built on our shared vision for a clean energy future and healthy, resilient communities.
We are also deepening our relationship with our national partner, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). Though we are independent organizations, we have always partnered with LCV and our network of state leagues across the country—now 29 strong. Working together, we influence the political process—the battleground on which most environmental issues are won or lost—through organizing, action, advocacy, accountability and elections.
Today, in the face of unprecedented attacks on our clean water, public lands, clean energy economy and communities, our organizations have come together to form a more unified Conservation Voters Movement. With gridlock at the Federal level, the opportunity for progress lies in our hands at the state and local levels. By coordinating our work more deeply, CVNM and LCV can make the most significant impact possible.
Coming together as the Conservation Voters Movement, LCV will be more focused on supporting our work right here in New Mexico; and in turn, CVNM and other state leagues will be more engaged in regional and federal fights that impact our communities directly. We are uniquely positioned as a nationwide community to build a more powerful, unified and diverse movement that galvanizes our democracy. We will make meaningful progress on clean energy and climate change and secure pro-environment majorities at all levels of government. At the same time, we will strongly resist environmental rollbacks by the Trump administration and their polluter allies in Congress and statehouses across the country.
New Mexico was a ray of hope in an otherwise dismal 2016 election cycle, and we have a great opportunity to build on that success and take New Mexico in a positive direction after the worst environmental governor our state has seen. In addition to the governor’s race, we are strongly positioned to elect a pro-conservation State Land Commissioner, build more conservation power in the state House of Representatives and work toward conservation majorities on the Public Regulation Commission and specific county commissions.
If we can take our pro-conservation candidates over the finish line in 2018, with your help, we are well positioned to move substantial pro-active policies in 2019 and beyond that will support our resilient communities of New Mexico and make us clean energy leaders.
As a powerful Conservation Voters Movement, we will work to defend our federal protections, advance on climate change at the state level and build a stronger, more diverse conservation movement than ever before. I hope you will continue to stand with us in leading that charge.
Thanks for being a Conservation Voter,
Demis
