February 20, 2013 09:43 PM UTC

Delegation Scores from LCV’s 2012 National Environmental Scorecard

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• by: ConservationColorado

The League of Conservation Voters released their 2012 National Environmental Scorecard today [Wednesday].  The Colorado congressional delegation split as one might expect:

U.S. Senate: Senator Michael Bennet (D), 100 – Senator Mark Udall (D), 93

U.S. House: Rep. Diana DeGette (D), 97 – Rep. Jared Polis (D), 100 –  Rep. Scott Tipton (R), 11 – Rep. Cory Garnder (R), 11 – Rep. Doug Lamborn (R), 6 – Rep. Mike Coffman (R), 9 –  Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D), 83

The Scorecard reflects the U.S. Senate’s work in defending against the U.S. House of Representatives’ unprecedented assault on our nation’s environmental and public health safeguards during the second session of the 112th Congress, a time when extreme weather events fueled by climate change were becoming all too common across the country.

Conservation Colorado Executive Director Pete Maysmith said, 

“In the face of unprecedented attacks from corporate polluters and their allies in Congress, environmental allies like Senators Bennet and Udall stood up for our values and put Coloradans first. While Coloradans were seeing the historic impacts of extreme weather – such as our extreme fires this summer –  members like Rep. Mike Coffman and Rep. Cory Gardner continued to put the needs of special interests first.”

The 2012 Scorecard includes 14 Senate votes and, for the second consecutive year, a record 35 House votes, on issues ranging from public health protections to clean energy to land and wildlife conservation.  These votes came at a time when much of the country experienced extreme weather fueled by climate change, including heat waves, severe drought and the devastating impacts of Hurricane Sandy. Fortunately, President Obama has defended against many of the House’s attacks and worked to make progress on critical issues like climate change through administrative action.

In Colorado, 2 House members and 2 Senators earned a score of 90 percent or greater on the 2012 Scorecard, while 4 House members and earned an abysmal score of 10 percent or less. The average House score in 2012 for Colorado was 45 percent and the average Senate score was 97 percent.

While the proverbial smoke clears from one of the most anti-environmental congressional sessions in history, LCV President Gene Karpinski summed things up well: 

“The best that can be said about this session of the 112th Congress is that it’s over.”

Coloradans should be thankful for our thoughtful environmental champions in the Senate – Sen. Mark Udall and Sen Michael Bennet – and our U.S. House Reps – Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, and Ed Perlmutter – deserve a badge of courage for holding on against an increasingly anti-environmental and out of touch U.S House of Representatives.

The cool interactive LCV scorecard, which has all environmental scorecard votes since 1971 and will track all environmental votes of the 113th Congress as they happen is here: http://scorecard.lcv.org.