NRDC Action Fund Launches Ad Marking Mitch McConnell’s First 100 Days, Unveils Website Showing Congressional Villains and Heroes on Climate & Clean Air

NRDC Action Fund Launches Ad Marking Mitch McConnell’s First 100 Days, Unveils Website Showing Congressional Villains and Heroes on Climate & Clean Air

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Melissa Harrison, [email protected], 202-513-6278, or Elizabeth Heyd, [email protected], 202-289-2424

WASHINGTON (April 15, 2015) – As Mitch McConnell marks his first 100 days as Senate majority leader, the NRDC Action Fund today unleashed an ad blasting him for standing with “dirty polluters,” and introduced a first-of-its-kind website enabling users to track dirty votes by members of Congress and campaign contributions from polluting industries.

The five figure “100 Days of McConnell”  ad, running on social media channels, hits the Kentucky Republican for leading a GOP agenda to try to dismantle the first-ever carbon pollution limits on power plants. These standards, the ad’s narrator says, “will save as many as 6,000 lives per year, slow climate change, and are supported by most voters.”

At the same time, the WhoVotesDirty website, www.whovotesdirty.com, enables users to identify the “villains” throughout Congress who vote against clean air and climate action, and the “heroes” who vote to protect communities and health. The website, which encourages users to hold lawmakers accountable through social media, also tracks contributions from dirty energy interests.

“Senator McConnell’s first 100 days of protecting polluters’ interests certainly do not bode well for his next 100 days. The question is: Where will McConnell’s fellow senators stand—with the polluters or with families who want to protect their children and their health?” said Heather Taylor-Miesle, director of the NRDC Action Fund. “We’re shining a spotlight on those who vote against the best interests of their constituents, who many times are in the dark about what’s happening in Washington. The time has come to make sure that—unlike Las Vegas—what happens on Capitol Hill doesn’t just stay there.

“Clean air and climate protections are vital to protecting our children’s health and ensuring a brighter future for all generations,” Taylor-Miesle added. “And our new tracking system will arm constituents with an easy to use tool to hold their members accountable for voting against those life-saving interests, and instead to protect dirty energy and dirty air.”

The redesigned website uses sophisticated data from the government watchdog group Sunlight Foundation and cutting-edge data-gathering technology to provide real-time information to the public and others revealing how members of Congress are voting on clean air and climate action measures, as well as contributions they receive from polluters from the oil & gas, electric utility and coal mining sectors. The website encourages users to hold members of Congress accountable by sharing the information through social media channels.

“Who Votes Dirty is a compelling use of the legislative and campaign finance information made available through our free and open data offerings,” said Amy Ngai, the Partnerships and Training Director at the Sunlight Foundation. “By using Sunlight Application Programing Interfaces (APIs), the tool takes advantage of real-time data such as bill status and voting records to provide a dynamic and interactive interface for users.”

The enhanced www.whovotesdirty.com is currently tracking 49 pieces of climate and clean air legislation and/or amendments in Congress since September 2011. Based on these votes, the website shows that 293 members of Congress are dirty air villains.  This includes 50 Senators and 243 House members.

What makes a member of Congress a hero or villain? NRDC Action Fund policy experts identify the votes that have the greatest impact or potential to impact clean air and climate policy. Members who vote against clean air 80 percent or more of the time are considered “Dirty Air Villains.” Those who vote to strengthen protections 80 percent or more of the time are considered “Clean Air Heroes.” All other members have no assigned status.

Of the 243 Dirty Air Villains in the House 241 are Republicans and two are Democrats. In the Senate, 49 Republicans are Dirty Air Villains, and one Democrat is a Dirty Air Villain.

The upgraded WhoVotesDirty website utilizes several software tools developed by the Sunlight Foundation. It is refreshed daily and pulls voting records and polluter contributions for every member of Congress. It allows a user to simply input his/her zip code to quickly identify if his/her members of Congress are “Dirty Air Villains” or “Clean Air Heroes.”

Users can also utilize the name search function to find specific lawmakers. And, through additional functionality, users can take the data and tweet directly on Twitter to the member’s official twitter account.

The NRDC Action Fund will promote the site on a regular basis and key votes on climate and clean air legislation. Promotion will include paid online advertising, aggressive social media outreach and earned media channels with reporters and bloggers throughout the United States.

Listen to audio recording of the press conference: http://bit.ly/1OCpRGB

The WhoVotesDirty website can be viewed here: www.whovotesdirty.com

To view the McConnell 100 Days ad, please click here: http://bit.ly/1GHYYjl

The text of the ad follows:

“Mitch McConnell spent his first one hundred days as Senate leader trying to dismantle carbon pollution standards.

“Standards that will save as many as 6,000 lives per year, slow climate change, and are supported by most voters.

“He’s taken more than three million dollars from dirty polluters and has no plan to protect the environment or public health.

“Will your senators stand with Mitch McConnell and dirty polluters, or with families who want to protect their children’s health and future?

“Paid for by the NRDC Action Fund.”

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The NRDC Action Fund’s mission is to grow the environmental majority across America to achieve the passage of legislation that jump-starts the clean energy economy, reduces pollution, and sustains vibrant communities for all Americans. Now is the time for leadership and action from our elected officials — our current goal is a comprehensive clean energy policy that will repower our economy and fuel our future. www.nrdcactionfund.org

The NRDC Action Fund is an affiliated but separate organization from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, the NRDC Action Fund engages in various advocacy and political activities for which the Natural Resources Defense Council, a 501(c)(3) organization, faces certain legal limitations or restrictions. News and information released by the NRDC Action Fund therefore needs to be identified as from the NRDC Action Fund. Use of the label “Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund” is incorrect; the only correct title is the “NRDC Action Fund.” In other words, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the NRDC Action Fund cannot be used interchangeably. Also, please note that the word “National” does not appear in Natural Resources Defense Council.