NextGen Climate, the environmental advocacy group created by billionaire Tom Steyer, is preparing to fight "anti-science" Republicans the 2014 Senate elections, according to CNN.
The environmental group will specifically target Senate races in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, and New Hampshire in addition to governors races in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Maine.
Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist, is advising Steyer during the campaign.
"This is the year, in our view, that we are able to demonstrate that you can use climate, you can do it well, you can do it in a smart way, to win political races," Lehane said.
On Wednesday, Lehane and Sky Gallegos, a NextGen Climate strategist, told reporters they plan on being active in elections between "pro-climate" Democrats and "anti-science" Republicans and have a budget around $100 million, though it could grow.
"They are anti-immigrant, anti-women, anti-science," Lehane said. "It's a tough brand to win elections around."
The strategists also made a point to let everyone know they are fully committed to electing Democrats that oppose the Keystone XL pipeline.
"We are not some super PAC that's going to come in, throw up some ads and leave," Lehane said. "You can come into these states and really run a total campaign."
However, Lehane said he isn't blind to the hurdles they might face against opposition.
"The forces in opposition are pretty significant here," he said. "You've got arguably the most well-funded opposition that has been involved in politics, at least in our history, in terms of the fossil fuel industry. You have the inherent political paralysis that exists here in Washington, D.C."
In order to prepare for those fights, he told POLITICO that the group has been analyzing shifting opinions on issues like gay marriage and going from there.
"The one common denominator when you look at all of those is that change occurred once those issues were defined in moral terms, as right versus wrong, and then used within our political system as a wedge issue," Lehane said.
