Which Congressmembers Are The Most Dedicated To Polluting The Water We Drink And The Air We Breath?

Maybe you read yesterday that the water in tens of thousands of West Virginia homes is still polluted. No perp walks for any of the culprits… certainly not in West Virginia. Kiley Kroh reported at Think Progress that 40% of homes in the area of the toxic spill are still testing positive for the chemicals that polluted the Elk River. Schools have been forced to close down and Evan Hansen, principal at Downstream Strategies, the environmental consulting firm that carried out the testing said that "people are still reporting smells and some people are reporting reactions with their skin, so it seems clear that in some locations, the water isn’t clean yet.”

Though West Virginia American Water gave its customers the green light to begin flushing their systems and using the water several weeks ago, none of the state and federal officials testifying at a congressional hearing on Monday would confirm that the water is indeed safe.

…Over the course of the past month, government officials have not been testing the water in private homes and businesses. After initially brushing off the idea in a press conference last week, Governor Tomblin “later directed his spill-response team to come up with a plan for testing the water in a representative sample of the 100,000 homes and businesses impacted by the leak,” the Charleston Gazette reported.

The sampling carried out by Downstream Strategies and other private companies is only being done in households that can afford it, Hansen points out, making it all the more important that the state take necessary steps to assure the public they are actively and transparently working to ensure the safety of the water.

After a month of unanswered questions, West Virginians are running out of patience. When asked if there was any potential silver lining that could come out of the incident, 21-year-old Charleston resident Kellie Raines said simply, “I would hope so but at this point, I really don’t see it. ”

I guess, though, that a silver lining would be that West Virginia defeat all the anti-environmental elected officials in their state-- which is basically all of them. The League of Conservation Voters released their 2013 scorecard yesterday. The state's two senators are both Democrats, conservative Joe Manchin, who had an abysmal 38% and the more mainstream Jay Rockefeller had an 85%. The 3 West Virginia House Members had far worse scores. Shelley Moore Capito, who would like to move up to the Senate, has a shocking 4%. The other Republican, David McKinley, one of the coal industry's worst shills in government, had a 7%. And Blue Dog Nick Rahall ended up with a pitiful (for a Democrat) 46%.

Last year Joe Manchin got more money from Big Coal than any other Senator-- $222,050, almost twice as much as his nearest competitor. Senator Rockefeller only got $8,500. Over in the House, McKinley got almost as much, $221,778, second only to John Boehner ($248,167). And Capito got the 5th greatest amount if bribes in the House-- $97,436 (and so far this year, Big Coal has given her another $165,275). Rahall was the 20th biggest recipient ($34,300).

You can check out your own Member's score and the breakdown at this link but here are the House Members who scored 100% and the House Members who scored 0. Yes, zero on the environment! Can you imagine?

There were only 3 Reps who scored 100% (although there were dozens of Democrats who scored 96%, which means they voted "wrong" on one vote.

• Jared Huffman (D-CA)
• Scott Peters (D-CA)
• Linda Sánchez (D-CA)

But a shitload of Republicans had zeros-- wrong on everything!

• Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
• Joe "oily Joe" Barton (R-TX)
• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
• Diane Black (R-TN)
• Jo Bonner (R-AL)
• Susan Brooks (R-IN)
• Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
• Ken Calvert (R-CA)
• John Campbell (R-CA)
• Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
• Mike Conaway (R-TX)
• Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)
• Renee Ellmers (R-NC)
• Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
• Blake Farenthold (R-TX)
• Tim Griffin (R-AR)
• Ralph Hall (R-TX)
• Andy Harris (R-MD)
• Darrell Issa (R-CA)
• Bob Johnson (R-OH)
• Steve King (R-IA)
• John Kline (R-MN)
• Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)
• Bob Latta (R-OH)
• Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
• Buck McKeon (R-CA)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
• John Mica (R-FL)
• Gary Miller (R-CA)
• Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
• Tim Murphy (R-PA)
• Devin Nunes (R-CA)
• Alan Nunnelee (R-MS)
• Pete Olson (R-TX)
• Tom Rice (R-SC)
• Martha Roby (R-AL)
• Phil Roe (R-TN)
• Mike Rogers (R-AL)
• Tom Rooney (R-FL)
• Aaron Schock (R-IL)
• Mike Simpson (R-ID)
• Steve Southerland (R-FL)
• David Valadao (R-CA)
• Greg Walden (R-OR)
• Jackie Walorski (R-IN)
• Steve Womack (R-AR)
• Todd Young (R-IN)