ANN ARBOR – Michigan League of Conservation Voters today unveiled scores for Michigan's Congressional Delegation that were released as part of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) 2015 National Environmental Scorecard. The scorecard includes the most votes ever scored and records a Congress that has not been favorable to the environment. The Scorecard is available in both English and Spanish at http://scorecard.lcv.org.
"As evidenced by the Flint water crisis, the health of our state's residents depends on the quality of our natural resources," said Lisa Wozniak, executive director for Michigan LCV. "Despite last year bringing major threats to our clean water and clean air, congressional leaders again have failed to prioritize protections for our natural resources or the Michiganders who depend on them."
The 2015 Scorecard includes votes cast during the first session of the 114th Congress. It includes 35 House votes and 25 votes in the Senate, covering issues ranging from clean air and water protections to land and wildlife conservation.
The good news is that the scorecard also includes many votes led by environmental allies who stood up for climate change science, clean energy, public lands, wildlife protections, among other issues. Fortunately, many of the worst threats to our environment and public health were defeated.
In Michigan only five House members earned a score of 80 percent or greater on the 2015 Scorecard, while eight House members earned scores of 10 percent or less. Sen. Stabenow and Sen. Peters received an exemplary 100 percent.
"The 2015 Scorecard shows that the radical leadership in the House and Senate wasted no time pursuing big polluters' agenda last year, and their environmental assault is well underway in 2016," said League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski. "Fortunately, we have a growing force of environmental allies, including the president, as well as many in Congress, who are working tirelessly to combat climate change, transition to a clean energy economy and safeguard our air, water, lands and wildlife."
Michigan Delegation Scores:
(D) Senator Debbie Stabenow, 100
(D) Senator Gary Peters, 100
(R) Congressman Dan Benishek, 3
(R) Congressman Bill Huizenga, 0
(R) Congressman Justin Amash, 20
(R) Congressman John Moolenaar, 3
(D) Congressman Dan Kildee, 94
(R) Congressman Fred Upton, 3
(R) Congressman Tim Walberg, 0
(R) Congressman Mike Bishop, 3
(D) Congressman Sander Levin, 97
(R) Congresswoman Candice Miller, 0
(R) Congressman Trent Lott, 3
(D) Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, 97
(D) Congressman John Conyers, 94
(D) Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, 94
