League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski is stepping down after nearly two decades leading the organization.
Karpinski, 72, who first took the reins of the influential environmental group in 2006, announced to staff Tuesday that he’ll leave next year when LCV’s board brings on a new president.
“I am very proud of all that LCV and [LCV Education Fund] have accomplished, but of course there is much more work to be done to secure our democracy and protect our planet,” Karpinski said in his letter to staff.
Karpinski oversaw major expansions at LCV, as well as the group’s part in the growth of the environmental movement to an electoral, lobbying and litigious juggernaut with a commanding presence in Washington, D.C., and around the country.
LCV’s super political action committee, LCV Victory Fund, spent $42.3 million in the 2020 election, ranking No. 12 among super PACs that year. Its National Environmental Scorecard has become the environmentalists’ main measuring stick for lawmakers. Karpinski is a frequent presence on Capitol Hill and enjoys friendly relationships with many Democrats in Congress.
His tenure coincided with the rise of climate change as a top policy and scientific concern and numerous government efforts to combat it, as well as increased scrutiny on the lack of diversity within the environmental movement and what to do about it.
LCV helped get then-Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey’s (D-Mass.) cap-and-trade bill, the “American Clean Energy and Security Act” passed through the House in 2009. But the effort stalled in the Senate.
Karpinski’s letter highlighted LCV’s goal to spend, along with its allies, $120 million in this year’s elections to support Democrat Kamala Harris and others.
He cheered environmental accomplishments over his time at LCV, including the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and major regulations, as well as the expansion of the organization and its affiliates.
“We have expanded the national staff from 30 to close to 200, and we have grown the combined budgets of our various entities from $12 million in 2006 to nearly $200 million in 2024,” he wrote.
Karpinski, a Connecticut native, is not calling his resignation a retirement. “I have no specific plans for my future after LCV, but I know I will remain in the fight to protect our planet and our democracy,” he said in his letter.
Carol Browner, the chair of LCV’s board of directors and former EPA administrator under then-President Bill Clinton, cheered Karpinski on his exit.
“You couldn’t have a better warrior, a better leader, or a better friend to work with than Gene Karpinski,” she said in a statement.
“I have had the fortune of working with Gene for more than 30 years, and during that time he worked every day to protect people, to hold adversaries accountable and to build winning coalitions that effected real, measurable change,” she continued. “Gene built LCV into a political powerhouse. We thank you for everything you did to make our movement stronger, smarter and better.”
Karpinski came to LCV after 21 years leading the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which had similar priorities around environmental and conservation policies. He previously had stints at People for the American Way, Colorado Public Interest Research Group and Public Citizen.
