How Does Your Congressional Delegation Rank with League of Conservation Voters?

Published Date

February 8, 2012

The League of Conservation Voters has released its annual ranking of congressional delegations from around the country, and it's not very pretty for most members of the House of Representatives.

In short, "the Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives unleashed a truly breathtaking and unprecedented assault on the environment and public health, the breadth and depth of which have made the current House of Representatives the most anti-environmental in our nation’s history."

Fortunately, points out the League, the Senate and the Obama administration persevered and were able to temper the seemingly anti-environment House.

The League's 2011 National Environmental Scorecard includes 35 House votes and 11 Senate votes. In analyzing those votes, the League came up with some interesting, if not disquieting, trends.

This year, 31 senators earned a perfect 100% score, while in the House 24 members earned a perfect 100% score. In the Senate, 13 senators earned an appalling 0% score, while in the House 4 members earned a 0% score. A major indicator of the change in landscape in the House for 2011 is the fact that the average lifetime score of members defeated in the 2010 election cycle was 73% while the average 2011 score of the House members who replaced them is 15%.

“LCV is grateful to the Obama administration, allies in the Senate and House, and the millions of people across the country who helped to ensure that the House leadership did not succeed in gutting our nation’s cornerstone environmental and public health protections in 2011," said League President Gene Karpinski.

Votes considered by the League in its tally ranged from, in the House, funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund and legislation that would ban off-road vehicle management in national forests to, in the Senate, climate change issues and a measure to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing air quality regulations as they pertain to smokestack emissions.

How did your delegation do?

According to the League, the following congressional delegations fared poorest when the votes were tallied. The numbers signify the percent of votes that matched the League's position:

* Senate

Indiana 0% · Kansas 0% · Georgia 5% · Mississippi 5% · Arizona 9% · Idaho 9% · Texas 9% · Wyoming 9%

* House

Kansas 6% · North Dakota 6% · Idaho 9% · Montana 9%

And here are the highest scoring delegations:

* Senate

California 100% · Colorado 100% · Connecticut 100% · Delaware 100% · Maryland 100% · New Jersey 100% · New Mexico 100% · New York 100% · Oregon 100% · Rhode Island 100% · Virginia 100% · Washington 100%

* House

Connecticut 97% · Hawaii 97% · Vermont 97% · Rhode Island 96% · Delaware 94% · assachusetts 94% · Maine 91%

You can download the entire scorecard and see how your delegation fared at this site.

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Comments

Submitted by admin on February 8, 2012 - 12:12pm.

Sad that we have to choose between the two extreme positions that the Democrats and Republicans have taken. Seems to be no middle ground.

Submitted by admin on February 10, 2012 - 5:07pm.

Use a broken ruler - you'll get broken measurements. Or GIGO.

Submitted by admin on February 11, 2012 - 11:57am.

Just need a better educated electorate, I believe, Dick G. Beware of the "feely, PC or the reactionary rhetoric is my observation. To much at stake at this point.

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