Washington, DC — Today, 350 Action, a national organization working to change the politics of climate change, endorsed Democratic candidate Thomas Heckroth (IA-01) for Congress. Heckroth is the only candidate in his race to refuse contributions from the fossil fuel industry and has taken a strong stance against fossil fuel infrastructure projects. He outlined his plans to address the climate crisis in 350 Action’s questionnaire here.

“Thomas Heckroth is standing up to Big Oil in a ‘pipeline primary’ against his pro-fossil fuel opponent,” 350 Action Executive Director May Boeve said. “While Heckroth has pledged to deny new permits for oil and gas projects, his opponent Abby Finkenauer supports the Dakota Access pipeline and took money from Energy Transfer Partners. The DCCC is backing Finkenauer, but those who care about real climate action can’t follow suit. There’s no such thing as a pro-pipeline progressive. Building a fossil free future that works for everyone means electing climate champions, not oil-soaked Democrats, to represent us in Congress.”

In his questionnaire, Heckroth elaborated on his vision for a just transition to renewable energy, saying, “I believe we need to invest in people again, that means supporting job training and retraining programs and ensuring any worker impacted by the transition away from fossil fuels has access to the tools and skills they need to compete in a clean energy economy. This is an opportunity to grow relationships between business, local governments, community colleges, and organized labor to invigorate our workforce and fight climate disruption. Iowa already has a strong renewable energy industry and with the right investments and focus on a transition to 100% renewable energy, we can expand economic opportunities further.”

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Contact: Dani Heffernan, [email protected], +1 (305) 992-1544