Calling Out The Worst Members Of Congress On Their Environmental Votes

The League of Conservation Voters may be, effectively, a political adjunct of the DCCC when it comes to backing House candidates, but their annual scorecard on how incumbents vote, is a very accurate reflection of which Members of Congress are working to save the planet and which are working to allow predatory profiteers like the Koch brothers to destroy it. The average score in the House this year was a dismal 43%, one of the lowest scores ever. Anyone aiming to do well on the Koch brothers' Americans For Prosperity scorecard that we looked at this morning. Ron Johnson's 100% rating for the Koch's translated to an 8% rating for LCV, same as Marco Rubio's, who also got 100% for the Kochs.

Over in the House, there were 46 congressmembers with a score of zero. All 46 of them voted against the environment on every single opportunity. All of them were Republicans of the most reactionary variety:

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

The DCCC uses these to trick naive environment supporters to contribute to candidates who are as bad as Republicans on crucial environmental issues

The DCCC has given free reelection passes to almost all of these miscreants. Almost none of them need to worry about a Democratic opponent going up on TV with ads talking about their environmental voting record. In fact, in one of the few cases where the DCCC is running someone against one of the GOP zeroes-- Bill Johnson of Ohio-- their handpicked candidate, Jennifer Garrison, has as bad a record on environmental concerns as Johnson does! Her own law firm specializes in helping gas companies obtain fracking permits and she has a long, cozy-- and financially remunerative-- relationship with Big Coal. The only interest the DCCC has in environmental issues is to use them cynically to trick grassroots donors into contributing. The Democratic incumbents with the worst LCV scores this year were, from bad to worst:

• Nick Rahall (Blue Dog-WV)- 46%
• Filemon Vela (New Dem- TX)- 46%
• Sanford Bishop (New Dem-GA)- 39%
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)- 36%
• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)- 32%
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- 29%
• Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)- 25%
• John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)- 21%
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 14%

Jamie Henn of 350.org, writing for MSNBC last week, pointed to the serious flaws in corporate Democratic thought on Keystone XL. "The conventional wisdom," he wrote, "on the political impact of a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline is this: President Obama should approve the project to provide cover for oil industry-friendly, middle-of-the-road Democrats who are in tight races in 2014.

Here’s the reality: a Keystone XL approval isn’t going to help these candidates any more than the administration’s past handouts to the fossil fuel industry. Big Oil and its allies are planning another round of major spending against Democrats this election cycle, and a thumbs up on Keystone wouldn’t slow them down a bit.

In many ways, it would just speed them up. Take the Koch Brothers for instance. Ty Matsdorf, a strategist for Senate Majority PAC told Politico recently, “The Koch Brothers are using an unprecedented amount of early money to flood these Senate races and try to buy the Senate.” With their major holdings in pipelines and refineries, the Koch’s stand to make billions if Keystone XL is approved. They’re unlikely to use it to help friends of Obama.

A Keystone XL approval could also turn off the very voters Obama and his allies hope to engage to advance a Democratic agenda. Years of protest have turned the pipeline into a symbolic test of the President’s commitment to address climate change. Despite the State Department’s recent back-flips to claim the pipeline wouldn’t have a dramatic environmental impact, the nation’s top climate scientists have made it crystal clear in reports and letters to the President that Keystone XL is a climate disaster. If the pipeline goes forward it will send a clear signal that the President isn’t serious about taking on the crisis.

That would be bad news for Democrats who hope to turn out the youth vote in 2014 and beyond. In a recent poll, 70% of young voters said that support for action on climate change will affect who they vote for, and 73% said they’d vote against a politician who wasn’t addressing the problem.

This afternoon, police rounded up hundreds of young demonstrators in front of the White House who do not want to see their world destroyed by corporate greed in the form of the Keystone XL Pipeline. It was the largest act of youth civil disobedience at the White House in a generation. "President Obama has a choice to make. He can side with Big Oil and approve Keystone XL, tarnishing his environmental legacy and getting little political benefit in the process. Or he can stand with the generation of young people that helped power him into office and reject this XL climate disaster. It's time to make the right call."

Meanwhile… back to the LCV scorecard for a moment. Were there any environment-friendly Republicans? No, not really. Nine Republicans scored better than the worst Democrat, Collin Peterson, but all of them had abysmal, failing grades:

• Chris Gibson (R-NY)- 43%
• Chris Smith (R-NJ)- 29%
• Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA)- 25%
• Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)- 25%
• Leonard Lance (R-NJ)- 21%
• Frank Wolf (R-VA)- 21%
• Walter Jones (R-NC)- 18%
• Jon Runyan (R-NJ)- 18%
• Justin Amash (R-MI)- 18%

As long as we're on the subject of LCV, it's worth noting that often back Democratic hacks with terrible scores, acting as an enabling operation for the DCCC. Last cycle, for example, they endorsed anti-environment Democrats like Ron Barber and Pete Gallego, which ultimately devalues their effectiveness. This cycle, they had the good sense to endorse environmental hero Brian Schatz over corporate shill Colleen Hanabusa in the Hawaii Senate race. "Schatz," they wrote in their endorsement press release, "has made addressing climate change and investing in clean energy a top priority throughout his career and will continue this strong leadership in the U.S. Senate."

“Brian Schatz is a lifelong environmentalist and a proven leader on climate change policy,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski.  “He has championed clean energy initiatives that have put Hawaii at the forefront of utilizing renewable energy and reducing dependence on petroleum. We will need his continued leadership in the U.S. Senate.”

…Schatz has led on climate change and environmental policies since his time serving in the state legislature. While serving as Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor, Schatz helped implement the state’s landmark clean energy initiative, which has helped the state get 18 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Schatz also spearheaded Hawaii’s work with the Pacific Island nations to invest in smart grid projects, and helped to develop the largest wind energy facility in Hawaii.

Schatz is in a unique position to make progress on environmental legislation, as he is a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, as well as Chair of the Subcommittee on Water and Power. Already, during his short tenure in the U.S. Senate, Schatz has distinguished himself by supporting an effort to put a price on carbon pollution, which is responsible for climate change and the extreme weather we’ve experienced in recent years.