Columbus, OH -- The Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund today released the Ohio delegation’s scores on the League of Conservation Voters’ 2017 National Environmental Scorecard. The Scorecard is the LCV’s primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of every member of Congress, and is available online at scorecard.lcv.org.
“As the Trump Administration launched attack after attack on longstanding environmental protections, we saw the Republican members of Ohio’s congressional delegation follow President Trump’s lead through the long list of bad bills and nominees that threatened our air, water, and public land,” said Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund Director, Aryeh Alex. “This is why it’s more critical than ever to ensure that we pass Issue 1 on May 8th to fix the scourge of gerrymandering in Ohio that has led to our congressional representatives being more beholden to voting by party lines, and not the will of the people, who strongly support environmental protections.”
The 2017 Scorecard measures votes cast during the first session of the 115th Congress. The full delegation’s scores for 2017 are:
Senator Brown - 95
Senator Portman - 0
Representative Chabot - 0
Representative Wenstrup - 0
Representative Beatty - 100
Representative Jordan - 0
Representative Latta - 0
Representative Johnson - 0
Representative Gibbs - 0
Representative Davidson - 0
Representative Kaptur - 97
Representative Turner - 6
Representative Fudge - 100
Representative Tiberi - 0
Representative Ryan - 94
Representative Joyce - 11
Representative Stivers - 3
Representative Renacci - 0
“This Republican-led Congress repeatedly refused to stand up to President Trump’s extreme anti-environmental agenda and his attacks on our air, water, land and wildlife,” said LCV Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “In a year where devastating hurricanes and wildfires showed why the need to fight climate change is so urgent, Congress instead inflicted lasting damage on our communities by reversing clean water protections, confirming industry favorites to key environmental posts and opening up the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Our environmental champions are more important than ever as the administration's hostility toward our communities continues to grow.”
The 2017 Scorecard includes 35 House votes, with a national average House Republican score of 5 percent and a national average House Democrat score of 94 percent. In the Senate, the Scorecard includes 19 votes, including eight votes to confirm anti-environmental Cabinet and sub-Cabinet nominees who have wasted no time implementing Trump’s agenda. Nationally, Senate Democrats averaged 93 percent, while Senate Republicans averaged just 1 percent.
LCV has published a National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970. The Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from about 20 respected environmental and conservation organizations who selected the key votes on which members of Congress should be scored. LCV scores votes on the most important issues of the year, including energy, climate change, public health, public lands and wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs. The votes included in the Scorecard presented members of Congress with a real choice and help distinguish which legislators are working for environmental protection. More information on individual votes and the Scorecard archive can be found at scorecard.lcv.org.