February 22nd, 2010 – Today, Colorado Conservation Voters joined the national League of Conservation Voters in releasing the 2009 National Environmental Scorecard, revealing scores for the Colorado delegation in the first session of the 111th Congress. For 30 years, the National Environmental Scorecard issued by LCV has been the nationally accepted yardstick used to rate members of Congress on environmental, public health and energy issues.
“We applaud those members of the Colorado delegation who voted in 2009 to bring clean energy jobs to the state and reduce our national dependence on foreign oil, including Representatives DeGette, Markey, Perlmutter and Polis,” said Pete Maysmith, Colorado Conservation Voters Executive Director. “The 2009 Scorecard clearly exposes members Coffman and Lamborn for what they really are: willing to put corporate polluters and other special interests ahead of a cleaner, more secure energy future for Colorado.”
The 2009 Scorecard includes 11 Senate and 13 House votes dominated by clean energy and climate but also encompassing other environmental issues such as public lands, water and wildlife conservation. In Colorado, three House members and all Senators earned perfect 100 percent scores in 2009, while one House member earned an abysmal 0 percent. The average House score in 2009 for Colorado was 66 percent and the average Senate score was 100 percent.
“The 2009 National Environmental Scorecard illustrates the extent to which the Obama administration and the 111th Congress began to move our nation towards a clean energy future that will create new jobs, make America more energy independent and curb global warming pollution,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “However, it also makes clear that there is still much work to be done, first and foremost to finish the work started in the House by swiftly passing a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill in the Senate.”
Representatives DeGette, Markey, Perlmutter and Polis voted for the landmark American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would help bring more than 28,100 clean energy jobs to Colorado.*
Scores from the LCV’s 2009 National Environmental Scorecard:
Senator Bennet, 100%
Senator K. Salazar, 100%
Senator M. Udall, 100%
Representative Coffman, 7%
Representative DeGette, 100%
Representative Lamborn, 0%
Representative B. Markey, 79%
Representative Perlmutter, 100%
Representative Polis, 100%
Representative J. Salazar, 79%
The full 2009 National Environmental Scorecard can be found at www.lcv.org/scorecard