Chris Van Hollen

ON THE ISSUES

• Voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant action Congress has ever taken to address climate change
• Earned a 98% lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard

WHY THIS RACE MATTERS

• Contributing to this race now will help Van Hollen build his campaign warchest early for his race in 2026
• Member of the Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

CANDIDATE BACKGROUND

Chris Van Hollen is running for a third term representing Maryland in the U.S. Senate. He previously served Maryland's 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House from 2003 to 2016, and before that, spent four years in the state House of Delegates and eight years in the state Senate. Throughout his long career in public service, he has been a consistent and leading voice for the environment. Early in his time in the state legislature, he made protecting the Chesapeake Bay a top priority, authoring the law that banned drilling in parts of the Bay watershed. In Congress, he cosponsored the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act. In the U.S. House, Van Hollen has served as the co-chairman of the bipartisan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force.  

He has been a longtime leader in the efforts to combat climate change, introducing the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act, and helped lead the support in Congress for President Obama's Clean Power Plan and the Green Climate Fund. He has also introduced the National Home Energy Savings Revolving Fund Act, which provides funds to local governments for use in making loans to homeowners to make energy-efficiency upgrades, as well as legislation to create a government-backed “Green Bank” to reinvigorate the market for funding renewable energy projects. He fought the Trump administration's efforts to gut the fuel efficiency standards and introduced cap and dividend legislation, the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act. 

Van Hollen worked to secure resources within the infrastructure modernization law build out Maryland’s network of electric vehicle charging stations to make it easier than ever to own and drive an electric car in the United States. That law will also harden our infrastructure to withstand the risks of climate change. In addition, it will bring in $238 million in funding for the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program to clean up the Bay and meet the targets of the Bay Agreement. Representative Van Hollen has earned a 98% lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard.