Enviros in Politics

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National Journal's Environment column includes the following little-known fact on environmental groups' work in the 2004 election cycle.

The political arms of the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Sierra Club spent upwards of $18 million to try to defeat Bush and to elect environmentally friendly candidates to Congress. Some of those groups coordinated their efforts with left-leaning "527" groups, including America Coming Together and America Votes.

While obviously that didn't pan out nationally, they did have some success in electing members of Congress.