A dozen Republicans have better environmental voting records than corporate whore Collin PetersonThe League of Conservation Voters has released it's national environmental scorecard for the first session of the 114th Congress. As they explain, it is meant to provide voters with "objective, factual information about the most important environmental legislation considered and the corresponding voting records of all members of the first session of the 114th Congress [and] represents the consensus of experts from about 20 respected environmental and conservation organizations who selected the key votes on which members of Congress should be scored. LCV scores votes on the most important issues of the year, including energy, climate change, public health, public lands and wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs. The votes included in this Scorecard presented members of Congress with a real choice and help distinguish which legislators are working for environmental protection."In general, Democrats were found to be working toward protecting the environment and battle climate change and the Republicans were found to be corporate tools disregarding some of the most crucial issues facing mankind. No surprises there. But how about the Democrats working hand-in-hand with the Republicans to sabotage environmental issues, attacking clean air and water protections, for example? House Members were graded on 35 roll call votes this session. 14 Democrats, primarily Blue Dogs and Wall Street-owned New Dems, proved themselves to be enemies of the planet, nearly as bad as Republicans. The worst House Democrats:-- from bad to worse:
• Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL)- 71%• Gwen Graham (Blue Dog-FL)- 69%• Ted Deutch (FL)- 66%• Zoe Lofgren (CA)- 66%• Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)- 63%• Gene Green (TX)- 63%• Ruben Hinojosa (TX)- 60%• Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)- 60%• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)- 57%• Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)- 54%• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)- 43%• Brad Ashford (Blue Dog-NE)- 31%• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- 20%• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 14%
43 House Members, all of them Democrats, had perfect scores (100%)-- real champions of the environmental movement:
• Jared Huffman (D-CA)• Jerry McNerney (CA)• Nancy Pelosi (CA)• Mike Honda (CA)• Ann Ashoo (CA)• Julia Brownley (CA)• Adam Schiff (CA)• Brad Sherman (CA)• Linda Sánchez (CA)• Lucille Royball-Allard (CA)• Mark Takano (CA)• Janice Hahn (CA)• Alan Lowenthal (CA)• Diana DeGette (CO)• Elizabeth Esty (CT)• Alan Grayson (FL)• Lois Frankel (FL)• Hank Johnson (GA)• Tulsi Gabbard (HI)• Jan Schakowsky (IL)• Chellie Pingree (ME)• Donna Edwards (MD)• Chris Van Hollen (MD)• Jim McGovern (MA)• Joe Kennedy (MA)• Katherine Clark (MA)• Keith Ellison (MN)• Frank Pallone (NJ)• Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ)• Nydia Velázquez (NY)• Hakeem Jeffries (NY)• Yvette Clarke (NY)• Jerry Nadler (NY)• Jose Serrano (NY)• Nita Lowey (NY)• Paul Tonko (NY)• David Price (NC)• Chaka Fattah (PA)• Brendon Boyle (PA)• Jim Langevin (RI)• Steve Cohen (TN)• Bobby Scott (VA)• Jim McDermott (WA)
In The Senate, all the members were graded on 25 roll call votes. There were only 3 anti-environmental Senate Dems, all across-the-board conservatives: Joe Donnelly (IN), Heidi Heitkamp (ND) and Joe Manchin (WV).