"California billionaire Thomas Steyer is taking his fight against climate change to Virginia, helping to buy TV ads criticizing Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli."
"WASHINGTON — California billionaire and clean energy philanthropist Thomas Steyer is spending $400,000 on television ads critical of Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, the latest effort by the former hedge-fund-manager-turned-environmental activist to inject climate change into statewide elections.
Steyer's donation through his political action fund, NextGen Climate Action, helped widen distribution of a League of Conservation Voters ad against Cuccinelli from northern Virginia to Norfolk, Richmond and Charlottesville, starting Wednesday night.
The ad slams Cuccinelli, Virginia's attorney general, as a "climate change denier" who allegedly wasted taxpayer money on litigation aimed at obtaining the personal emails of a leading climate scientist from the University of Virginia. Cuccinelli lost the case. He is running for governor against Terry McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and close advisor to the Clintons."
Neela Banerjee reports for the Los Angeles Times August 7, 2013.
