Logo for InfluenceWatch InfluenceWatch

Donate
Political Party/527

Vote Climate U.S. PAC

Website:

www.voteclimatepac.org

 
Location:

Bethesda, MA
Type:

Political Action Committee
Founded:

2014
President:

Karyn Strickler

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Vote Climate U.S. PAC (Vote Climate) is a left-of-center environmentalist political action committee that wants a climate tax in the U.S. and zero greenhouse emissions. To achieve this goal, Vote Climate scores, identifies, and supports federal and state candidates aligned with this agenda. Vote Climate also offers recruitment tools and resources for engagement at the local level.

History

Vote Climate U.S. PAC was founded in Bethesda, Maryland in 2014. 1 In the 2016 election, Vote Climate identified key congressional races and produced and aired ads in favor of select candidates. 2

By 2018, the group identified incumbents and challengers in each congressional race by stances on select climate issues and issued a climate scorecard. 3 Also in 2018, Vote Climate produced a state of the environment report and identified priority candidates to support in U.S. House races. 4 The report scored incumbent Democratic senators as supporting Vote Climate’s issues 85.3% of the time and incumbent Republicans at 0.63%. 5 For House incumbents, Democrats scored 89% compared to Republicans at 7.4%. 6

By 2020, Vote Climate began climate scoring candidates for president and incumbents in select state legislatures around the country. 7 By 2021-2022, the group included climate ratings for governor’s races for the election cycles and expanded state legislative scoring. 8 Included for the 2022 election is scoring for incumbent members of congress and states based on a searchable Zip code database. 9

Views and Programs

Vote Climate U.S. PAC’s top priority is a law that establishes a carbon tax or climate tax in the United States. 10 Karyn Stricker, the group’s president, advocates reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to zero in as short a time as possible. 11 Vote Climate quotes the left-of-center Union of Concerned Scientists’ contention that only the complete elimination of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions would reduce atmospheric CO2 levels in the next century. 12 Vote Climate attempts to elect legislators who will vote for restrictive environmental policies. 13

The largest project that Vote Climate produces is a voter guide that rates all elected members of Congress and has expanded to include all candidates for Congress, gubernatorial races, and presidential elections. 14 Vote Climate lists climate “heroes” and “zeroes” with clickable information on each incumbent member of Congress and why it supports or opposes that individual. 15

Vote Climate asks supporters to take a pledge that they will only support candidates that put climate change at the forefront of their campaigns. 16 Vote Climate recruits left-of-center activists to speak at house parties and asks others to sign up and host house parties that can seek to form people on Vote Climate’s agenda and raise funds for the organization. 17 Additionally, Vote Climate has talking points and pre-written samples for members to send letters to the editors of local publications. 18

Leadership

Karyn Strickler is the founder and president of Vote Climate U.S. PAC. 19 In 2015, Strickler worked with Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-MD) campaign for the U.S. House, leading a women’s outreach movement. 20 In 2006 Strickler was arrested, along with her husband, American University professor and then-U.S. Senate candidate Allan Lichtman (D), for refusing to leave a Maryland Public Television news studio that wouldn’t allow Lichtman into a debate due to low poll numbers. 21 Strickler was executive director of NARAL Maryland in the early 1990s and was described by Maryland House majority leader Kumar Barve (D) as a leader in the abortion movement. 22 By the mid-1990s, she was executive director of 50 Plus One, a campaign training organization for pro-abortion and left-leaning environmental candidates. 23 Strickler has also hosted an environmentalist advocacy show on Montgomery County Maryland Public Television. 24

References

  1. “Karyn Strickler.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/karyn-strickler-27869a7.
  2.  “Mission and Approach.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/vote-climate-mission-and-approach/.
  3. “Mission and Approach.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/vote-climate-mission-and-approach/.
  4. “Mission and Approach.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/vote-climate-mission-and-approach/.
  5. “Voters Guide.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. 2018. https://voteclimatepac.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-Voters-Guide-by-Party.pdf.
  6. “Voters Guide.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. 2018. https://voteclimatepac.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-Voters-Guide-by-Party.pdf.
  7. “Mission and Approach.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/vote-climate-mission-and-approach/.
  8. [1] “Mission and Approach.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/vote-climate-mission-and-approach/.
  9. [1] “Climate Scorecard.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/117th-congress-climate-scorecard/.
  10.  “Mission and Approach.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/vote-climate-mission-and-approach/.
  11. Strickler, Karyn. “Biden’s Climate Day: Vote Climate U.S. PAC Has a Present for America.” L.A. Progressive. January 30, 2021. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.laprogressive.com/climate-change-2/climate-day.
  12. “Carbon Free Legislation.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/carbon-fee-legislation/.
  13. “Mission and Approach.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/vote-climate-mission-and-approach/.
  14. [1] “Mission and Approach.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/vote-climate-mission-and-approach/.
  15. “Best to Worst.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/best-to-worst/.
  16. “Climate Pledge.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/take-the-vote-climate-pledge/.
  17. “Speak at a House Party.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/speak-at-a-house-party/.
  18. [1] “Write a Letter.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/write-a-letter/.
  19. “Karyn Strickler.” Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://voteclimatepac.org/karyn-strickler/.
  20. Fritze, John. “Raskin Rolls Out Women’s Group for House Campaign.” Baltimore Sun. August 12, 2015. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.capitalgazette.com/politics/bal-raskin-rolls-out-womens-group-for-house-campaign-20150812-story.html
  21. “Allan Lichtman: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know.” Heavy.com. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://heavy.com/news/2020/08/allan-lichtman/.
  22. Barve, Kumar. “Letter to NARAL Maryland.” Maryland Politics Watch. June 14, 2010. Accessed April 24, 2022. http://maryland-politics.blogspot.com/2010/06/kumar-calls-out-naral.html.
  23. “Karyn Strickler.” C-Span. August 25, 1995. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.c-span.org/person/?40775/KarynStrickler; “Karyn Strickler.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/karyn-strickler-27869a7.
  24. “Karyn Strickler.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/karyn-strickler-27869a7.
  See an error? Let us know!