The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) is a nonpartisan lobbying and educational organization which focuses on environmental issues affecting California.
Organized as a 501(c)(4), CLCV's mission is to protect California's environmental quality by increasing public awareness of the environmental performance of all elected officials, working to elect environmentally responsible candidates, and holding them accountable to the environmental agenda once elected.
At the end of each legislative year, CLCV publishes the California Environmental Scorecard. The Scorecard, which CLCV describes as "the definitive barometer of environmental politics in Sacramento," rates the performance of the California State Legislature and the governor on key environmental legislation. The Scorecard is distributed to 35,000 CLCV members, other environmental organizations, and the news media. The CLCV has also awarded an Environmental Leadership Award, which in 2003 went to Nancy Pelosi.
CLCV conducts research on candidates in order to make electoral endorsements. They assist endorsed candidates with media, fundraising, and grassroots organizing strategies and campaign to educate voters about candidates' environmental records. CLCV also works with local Leagues of Conservation Voters to elect environmental candidates at the local level.
CLCV campaigns for environmental legislation in Sacramento in collaboration with the greater environmental community. CLCV maintains a lobbying presence in Sacramento.
The CLCV Board of Directors and staff often become officials in California state government, and vice versa. Recent board members include former Cal/EPA Secretary Winston Hickox; former Department of Resources Secretary, Clinton EPA appointee, and current California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols; and former Assemblymember (and current Santa Cruz County Treasurer) Fred Keeley (D-Santa Cruz). Former Assemblymember Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) is a former CLCV staff member.
CLCV is affiliated with the State Capacity Building Division of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV)] (formerly the Federation of State Conservation Voter Leagues), which works to strengthen state organizations of this type. Established in 1972, CLCV is the largest and oldest such organization. LCV, a sister group of CLCV, does work similar to that of CLCV at the federal level.