Earth Day Network Turns Out Latino and African American Environmental Voters

C4C Voters Provide Margin of Victory in Environmental Initiatives

Election Day Anti-Environment Propositions Halted

November 15, 2006 (Washington, DC) Earth Day Network (EDN) and our Campaign for Communities (C4C) partners are already rolling up their sleeves for the 2008 Election after briefly celebrating some hard-fought victories on Election Day ’06. Our 2008 strategy will continue to focus on creating reliable and consistent environmental citizens among low-income and minority communities which are often most effected by environmental and health issues while having the least amount of resources to protect their rights.

Typically, mid-term elections see a dramatic decrease in voter turnout, but Latinos in particular turned out in record numbers on Nov. 7th, approximately one million more than in 2002, according to national polls. That’s in part thanks to the work of Earth Day Network and its C4C Partners who waged a strong pro-environment offensive in California, in particular, with a media campaign, an email blitz to 450,000 voters, and door-to-door appeals.

In California, Latino voters helped pass Prop 84 which will provide nearly $5.4 billion in bond funds for water, flood control, natural resources, park and conservation projects. And while Alternative Energy Prop 87 lost with only 45% support from the general public, it received overwhelming support, 70%, from Latino voters. Exit polls conducted by Earth Day Network’s C4C partner, the William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI), found that nearly 67% of Latino voters felt “dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time.”

“The Exit polling and the turnout among Latino voters clearly shows a pro-environment agenda in the Latino community which must be acknowledged and respected,” said EDN President Kathleen Rogers. “This confirms our belief that the environmental movement must continue to seek out minority and new voices so that the entire fabric of our society is represented in our local, state and federal policies – that has been our agenda all along.”

Earth Day Network’s C4C partners worked in eight states, educating and turning out Latino, African American, and young voters. In California and in Washington States, voters were asked to wade through the impossibly opaque waters of regulatory takings/eminent domain issues. Educating voters on these issues presented a tremendous challenge particularly because of the deceptively appealing manner in which the questions were posed to voters. Yet EDN and its partners successfully connected with voters in both states through clear and direct messaging about the sure and dire effects of passage of these initiatives upon municipalities and communities. Voters responded by defeating these measures soundly. In Washington State, Proposition I-933 was trounced by a vote of 58%. In California, 52% of voters voted against Proposition 90.

“The defeat of the regulatory takings/eminent domain measures is a huge win for citizens against the well funded juggernaut that promotes anti-environmental propositions and ballot initiatives across the country,” said EDN President Kathleen Rogers. “It is also a significant boost for Earth Day Network and its partners in their work to educate and mobilize citizens to become civically engaged as a means to protect the health and welfare of their communities.”

In Maryland, Earth Day Network and its partners worked in Prince Georges County to educate and turn out thousands of African American and Latino environmental voters to support a constitutional amendment that would protect park lands and open spaces. EDN’s work to turn out voters in some of the most underperforming areas of Prince Georges County contributed to the successful passage of the amendment.

In Pennsylvania, Earth Day Network worked again with our C4C partners to turn out thousands of voters in suburban and inner city Philadelphia where EDN reinforced its message about the importance of voting to improve community environmental health.

About Earth Day Network

Earth Day Network, www.earthday.net, was founded by the organizers of the first Earth Day in 1970 and promotes environmental citizenship and year round progressive action worldwide. EDN's primary mission is to broaden the environmental movement. Its current grassroots programs include the Climate Change Solutions Campaign, Campaign for Communities, and the National Civic Education Project. Earth Day Network works with more than 105,000 K-12 teachers in the United States alone. In 2006, EDN launched Earth Day Network Television, www.earthdaynetwork.tv and the EDN Blog, greatly expanding its reach to a global network of more than 15,000 partner organizations in 174 countries. More than 500 million people participate in Earth Day civic activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world.

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