Green groups give Biden an early endorsement

Four of the nation’s biggest environmental advocacy groups officially endorsed President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign Wednesday night, an early declaration of support that also served as a show of appreciation for having passed the most significant climate legislation in history last year.

Biden trekked across town from the White House to receive the endorsement in person, speaking at the League of Conservation Voters’ annual fundraising dinner in a concert venue along Washington's southeastern waterfront.

"Many of you have been with me throughout my career and I can't tell you how much it means to have your support again," Biden said, taking the stage after the endorsement was announced. "Together we've made a lot of progress, but we've got to finish the job."

The backing of the four major green groups — LCV, NextGen PAC, NRDC Action Fund and the Sierra Club — was no surprise, especially after last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $370 billion in subsidies for clean energy projects.

But it does mark the first time the groups have jointly announced a presidential endorsement. And for Biden, running virtually unopposed for the Democratic nomination despite widespread concerns from within the party about his age, it may be the first of several such announcements to be rolled out early — locking in key advocacy groups and party constituencies at a moment when the nascent campaign is still being developed.

The president is scheduled to travel to Pennsylvania for a political event Saturday with union leaders, an event that will reportedly coincide with another major endorsement from the AFL-CIO, the labor behemoth that has never before backed a presidential candidate this early in the election cycle. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that the endorsement was in the offing.

At Wednesday’s dinner, environmental advocates lauded Biden for signing several executive orders on climate during his first days in office and bringing environmental justice groups into the policy-making process. They also praised him for successfully shepherding a major climate package through Congress that has reshaped U.S. industrial policy around clean energy, drawing $200 billion in new investments to launch more than 130 projects in more than 30 states.

“Since Day One, President Biden and Vice President Harris have cut through the division in Washington to prioritize and deliver transformational progress on climate, jobs, and justice, and have jump-started our transition to a more equitable clean energy future,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, LCV Action Fund’s senior vice president of government affairs. “We are so grateful for their leadership and are all-in to help reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris so they can finish the job.”

Not all environmental advocates are as thrilled with Biden; in March, the president approved the massive Willow oil-drilling project in Alaska despite pushback from activists who worried it would undercut efforts to meet the nation’s emissions reduction goals. Biden, who has tried to reframe the climate crisis as a huge economic opportunity, featured the IRA’s climate program during his appearances on the campaign trail last fall — but he also told lawmakers during the State of the Union that the U.S. would “still need oil for at least a decade.”

Buoyed by the IRA’s passage and Democrats’ better than expected midterm results last fall, climate activists are convinced that their movement has become something of a political force and vowed to mobilize younger voters and others galvanized by climate concerns to support Biden’s reelection effort as it takes shape.

Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said in a statement that the four green groups’ will offer “essential organizational support … and will better position our campaign to reach into communities where they have built trusted relationships to activate voters.”