From The WTF File: Environmental Defense Supporting "Green Republicans" In Primaries, General

[hatrack]

The political arm of one of the nation’s biggest environmental groups is looking for allies in the unlikeliest of places: the Republican Party.

The Environmental Defense Action Fund is rolling out a seven-figure ad campaign to aid green-minded Republicans in the midterm elections, part of a longer-term effort to find GOP partners on priorities like climate change. If it works, it would offer a break from the growing partisan split that green issues have encountered in recent years — not to mention the aggressively pro-Democratic efforts of groups like the League of Conservation Voters and billionaire Tom Steyer’s super PAC.

The group faces stiff competition for a seat at the Republican table, especially given the increasingly dominant role of conservative tea party groups and the Koch brothers. Still, supporters of the effort say they see stirrings of conservationist Republican activism around the country, including among young conservatives and a pro-solar-power “green tea” alliance between Georgia tea party activists and the Sierra Club.

And the Action Fund served notice Thursday that it’s willing to champion Republican allies even at the expense of Democrats. It rolled out a $250,000 television, print and digital ad buy promoting Rep. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.), whose Democratic challenger, Sean Eldridge, has support from other progressive groups. The group hasn’t publicly identified other Republicans it plans to support in its 2014 effort, which it says is worth around $1 million so far.

EDIT

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/environmental-defense-action-fund-gop-110021.html

[GliderGuider]

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