Climate Hawks Vote Political Action is a Super PAC that promotes far-left environmentalist candidates solely form the Democratic Party. Much of the PAC’s work revolves around pushing Democratic politicians further to the left on environmentalist issues and advocating against the use of all conventional fuels. The PAC is the political spending arm of sister organization, Climate Hawks Vote Civic Action.

Both organizations are run by California Democratic activist RL Miller, who is frequently quoted in the press as a voice for far-left climate activists. ¹

Background

Climate Hawks Vote Political Action was founded in the 2014 election cycle by Democratic political operative and activist RL Miller, who serves as Chairwoman of the California Democratic Party environmental caucus. Miller stated that the idea for the PAC and sister organization was born when former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (D) expressed interest in a run for the United States Senate. Miller decried the Montana Democrat for being an “open cheerleader” for the coal industry and founded Climate Hawks Vote as an “idea that we need to do is make climate change more of a litmus test within the Democratic party than it already is.” Miller simultaneously founded both Climate Hawks Vote Civic Action, a 501(c)(4) advocacy group to petition and score Democrats on environmentalist issues and Climate Hawks Vote Political action, a Super PAC that makes independent expenditures for or against candidates for federal office. The PAC works as a political spending arm of the two organizations and makes independent expenditures in elections on behalf of candidates who support a Green New Deal,² a radical-left environmentalist proposal critics have characterized as a “radical, top-down socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy.” ³

Climate Hawks Vote Political Action is closely aligned with the radical-left Democratic Party faction that supported the presidential campaigns of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). During the 2016 Democratic primary, the PAC had a member endorsement vote, which endorsed Sanders over Hillary Clinton, giving Sanders over 92% of the vote, out of over 22,000 votes cast by Climate Hawks Vote PAC members. The group ranked Sanders as the best Senator on far-left climate issues on their scorecard, citing his refusal to accept money from fossil fuel companies and his call for the U.S. Attorney General to investigate and prosecute ExxonMobil. ⁴

Spending

During the 2018 election cycle, Climate Hawks Vote Political Action made $53,743 in independent expenditures, while also paying founder RL Miller over $55,000 in compensation. ⁵

Candidates supported in 2018 include U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) and U.S. House candidates Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Dan McCready (D-NC), Sean Casten (D-IL) and Elaine Luria (D-VA). In 2020, the group has made expenditures against U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC). ⁶

1. “About” Climate Hawks Vote. Accessed April 26, 2020.  http://climatehawksvote.com/about/
2. Loftus-Farren, Zoe. “Climate Hawks Vote Swoops onto the Election Scene”. Earth Island Journal. November 3, 2014. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/climate_hawks_vote_swoops_onto_the_election_scene/
3. McConnell, Mitch. Twitter Post. March 25, 2019, 5:18 P.M. Accessed March 29, 2019. https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1110289975386492929
4. “Climate Hawks Vote members overwhelmingly choose Sanders in endorsement vote”. P2016. March 10, 2016. Accessed April 26, 2020. http://www.p2016.org/interestg/climatehawks031016pr.html
5. “Expenditures, Climate Hawks Vote Political Action”. Center for Responsive Politics.  Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expenditures.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00548461
6. “Independent Expenditures, Climate Hawks Vote Political Action”. Center for Responsive Politics.  Accessed April 26, 2020.  https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00548461