scorecard...2021/01/05 · Earth Day. LCV believes our earth is worth fighting for because everyone...

scorecardS E C O N D S E S S I O N O F T H E 1 1 6 T H C O N G R E S S

2020 NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL

LCV SCORECARD ADVISORY COMMITTEE *

LCV ISSUES & ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE *

LCV BOARD OF DIRECTORS *

* Organizations are shown for identification purposes only

JOHN H. ADAMS, HONORARYNatural Resources Defense Council

BRENT BLACKWELDER, HONORARYFriends of the Earth

THE HONORABLE SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, VICE CHAIRThe Accord Group

THE HONORABLE CAROL BROWNER, CHAIRFormer EPA Administrator

CARRIE CLARKNorth Carolina League of Conservation Voters

DONNA F. EDWARDSFormer U.S. Representative

MICHAEL C. FOXEloise Capital

ELAINE FRENCH John and Elaine French Family Foundation

MARIA HANDLEYConservation Colorado Education Fund

STEVE HOLTZMANBoies Schiller Flexner LLP

RAMPA R. HORMEL, HONORARY Enlyst Fund

JOHN HUNTING, HONORARYJohn Hunting & Associates

MICHAEL KIESCHNICKGreen Advocacy Project

ROGER KIMDemocracy Alliance

MARK MAGAÑAGreenLatinos

WINSOME MCINTOSH, HONORARYThe McIntosh Foundation

MOLLY MCUSICWyss Foundation

WILLIAM H. MEADOWS III, HONORARYThe Wilderness Society

GREG MOGAMoga Investments LLC

REUBEN MUNGERVision Ridge Partners, LLC

SCOTT NATHANCenter for American Progress

BILL ROBERTSCorridor Partners

LARRY ROCKEFELLERAmerican Conservation Association

THEODORE ROOSEVELT IV, HONORARY CHAIRBarclays Capital

KERRY SCHUMANN Wisconsin Conservation Voters

LAURA TURNER SEYDELTurner Foundation

TRIP VAN NOPPENEarthjustice

KATHLEEN WELCHCorridor Partners

ANTHA WILLIAMSBloomberg Philanthropies

REVEREND LENNOX YEARWOOD, JR.Hip Hop Caucus

BRENT BLACKWELDERFriends of the Earth

THE HONORABLE CAROL BROWNERFormer EPA Administrator

MICHAEL C. FOXEloise Capital

SUNITA LEEDSEnfranchisement Foundation

MARK MAGAÑAGreenLatinos

GREG MOGAMoga Investments LLC

REUBEN MUNGERVision Ridge Partners, LLC

KERRY SCHUMANNWisconsin Conservation Voters

TRIP VAN NOPPENEarthjustice

CAROL ANDRESS Environmental Defense Fund

ALEXANDRA ADAMSNatural Resources Defense Council

BIDISHA BHATTACHARYYACenter for American Progress

KRISTEN BRENGELNational Parks Conservation Association

ROBERT COWINUnion of Concerned Scientists

ROBERT DEWEYDefenders of Wildlife

JESSICA ECKDISHBlueGreen Alliance

MARTY HAYDENEarthjustice

CRAIG LASHERPopulation Action International

MICHELLE MABSONBlack Millennials for Flint

DREW MCCONVILLEThe Wilderness Society

KRISTEN MILLER Alaska Wilderness League

KATIE MURTHAEnvironment America

ÁNGEL PEÑAGreenLatinos

MELINDA PIERCESierra Club

MICHELE ROBERTSEnvironmental Justice Health Alliance

LUKAS ROSSFriends of the Earth

ERIK SCHNEIDER National Audubon Society

KERRY SCHUMANN, CHAIR Wisconsin Conservation Voters

KERENE TAYLOEWE ACT for Environmental Justice

ABBY TINSLEYNational Wildlife Foundation

KATHY TSANTIRISOcean Conservancy

CONTENTS1. ANALYSISOverview of the 2nd Session of the 116th Congress 2

Voting Summary 5

2. SENATE SCORESVote Descriptions 8

Senate Votes 14

3. HOUSE SCORESVote Descriptions 20

House Votes 28

The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has

published a National Environmental Scorecard every

Congress since 1970, the year it was founded by leaders

of the environmental movement following the first

Earth Day. LCV believes our earth is worth fighting for because

everyone has a right to clean air, water, lands, and a safe,

healthy community.

This edition of the National Environmental Scorecard provides

objective, factual information about the most important

environmental legislation considered and the corresponding

voting records of all members of the second session of the 116th

Congress. This Scorecard represents the consensus of experts

from more than 20 respected environmental, environmental

justice, 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, environmental and

racial justice, worker protection, democracy, public lands and

wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs.

The votes included in this Scorecard presented members of

Congress with a real choice and help distinguish which legislators

are working for environmental protection. Except in rare

circumstances, the Scorecard excludes consensus action on the

environment and issues on which no recorded votes occurred.

Dedicated environmentalists and national leaders volunteered

their time to identify and research crucial votes. We extend

special thanks to our Board of Directors, Issues & Accountability

Committee, and Scorecard Advisory Committee for their

valuable input. We also thank Sam Bleicher, whose generous

support is making possible the widespread distribution of the

Scorecard.

2 scorecard.lcv.org|2020NationalEnvironmentalScorecard·LCV

2020 OVERVIEW

2020 was a year like no other as our nation struggled with four interwoven crises: the COVID-19

pandemic, economic inequality, racial injustice, and climate change.

These consequential crises shaped Congress’

agenda and votes—relief and national leadership

in a time of vast hardship became overwhelmingly

urgent. Yet the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate

approached their responses very differently; the

House proposed and passed multiple comprehen-

sive policy solutions, while the Senate, in response

to these crises, remained largely inert, with only a

few exceptions.

The 21 House votes in LCV’s 2020 National Environ-

mental Scorecard advanced pro-environmental and

pro-democracy bills, provisions, and government

funding thanks to strong leadership from Speaker

Pelosi and others. In stark contrast, of the 13 Senate

votes in the 2020 Scorecard, eight were extreme

and partisan nominations both to the federal bench

and the Trump administration, and Leader McCon-

nell refused to bring to a vote much needed de-

mocracy reforms; climate, water infrastructure, and

clean energy investments; and aid to people that

the House passed. Across 2020, Leader McConnell

jammed through 44 lifetime judicial appointments

for President Trump, while only holding votes on 25

bills or resolutions.

The climate crisis continued unabated, harming

people’s health, homes, farms, and other property,

particularly in communities of color. We experi-

enced the hottest year on record, the worst Atlantic

hurricane season on record, the worst West Coast

fire season on record, a record 22 climate-fueled

disasters that each caused over $1 billion in dam-

age, and total U.S. losses of $95 billion from cli-

mate disasters.

Fortunately, Chair Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Demo-

cratic members of the House Select Committee on

the Climate Crisis consulted experts and communi-

ties all across the nation to devise a roadmap for

climate action: “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Con-

gressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy

and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America.” The

House acted on some of the Select Committee’s

recommendations, passing Supplemental Emer-

gency Appropriations (H.R. 5687) for Puerto Rico,

which, after three years of insufficient support,

is still rebuilding from Hurricane Maria and other

devastating hurricanes, and a climate-ambitious in-

frastructure package, the Moving Forward Act (H.R.

2), to help clean up our electricity and transporta-

tion sectors, deliver clean drinking water to com-

munities like Flint, MI, and make our country more

resilient to the impacts of climate change. Though

the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the

Climate Crisis also released their blueprint for cli-

mate action, the Republican-controlled Senate did

not take up either bill, leaving communities with

damaged and failing infrastructure that continues

to harm their health and wellbeing.

The House’s multifaceted response to the climate

crisis also included important clean energy legisla-

tion. The House passed an energy innovation pack-

age (H.R. 4447), that, as amended (vote #203), would

greatly increase available funding levels for clean

energy programs to advance the transition to 100

percent clean electricity and decarbonize the trans-

portation and industrial sectors. The 116th Congress

concluded on a high note with a year-end omnibus

package (H.R. 133) signed into law that included a

phase down of climate super pollutants, HFCs; exten-

2020NationalEnvironmentalScorecard·LCV|scorecard.lcv.org 3

sions of tax credits for energy efficiency and wind and

solar power; and increased clean energy research

and innovation funding. Though many more ambitious

climate actions are needed to stave off the worst of

the climate crisis, these year-end actions provide mo-

mentum for a more comprehensive suite of actions in

2021 and beyond.

An extremely positive, and bipartisan, conserva-

tion development in 2020 was the enactment

of the Great American Outdoors Act (H.R. 1957),

which would provide full and permanent funding

of $900 million annually for the Land and Water

Conservation Fund as well as funding to address

the deferred maintenance backlog in our national

parks and other public lands. The pandemic has

underscored the health benefits of local parks and

other public lands and the need to make them

more plentiful and accessible for low-wealth com-

munities and communities of color. Investments in

our public lands will also pay dividends in the fight

against climate change, as more lands are protect-

ed and restored to allow natural systems to absorb

more climate pollution and improve resilience.

2020 was incalculably hard for so many people,

and that hardship and loss from COVID-19 con-

tinues, especially in communities of color, where

longstanding structural and environmental racism

has made the health and economic impacts of

the pandemic worse. Soot from diesel trucks and

polluting industries located disproportionately in

communities of color heightens the risk of catch-

ing and dying from the virus, and homes in these

same communities are more likely to lack or be

disconnected for lack of payment from essential

utilities like water and electric. These cumulative,

compounding impacts motivated our urgent calls

to block Trump administration rollbacks of envi-

ronmental health protections and enforcement,

fund environmental justice programs to reduce

pollution, and issue moratoria on utility shutoffs.

In May, the House passed the Heroes Act (H.R.

6800) to provide these and other necessary relief

Scorecard Changes in 116th CongressAs we announced last year, in order to better

align our Scorecard with our organizational focus

on equity across gender, race, family and health

status, age, and physical ability and to more ac-

curately represent a member of Congress’ com-

mitment to the environment, we have changed

the way we score some missed votes. Starting in

the 2019 Scorecard, votes missed by members

of Congress due to family and medical leave or

disasters are treated as excused absences and

do not count against a member’s score. Votes

missed for other reasons, including running for

elected office, still display as a missed vote and

are counted the same as casting an anti-environ-

mental vote, as they have for decades. Members

may submit explanatory text to be included as

footnotes.

Also, since the 2019 Scorecard, we display the

votes of the five House Delegates representing

American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam,

Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands

and the Resident Commissioner representing

Puerto Rico. At the start of the 116th Congress,

Democrats, as they have every time they have

been in the majority since 1993, reinstated voting

on the floor by these members when the House

meets in the Committee of the Whole. Although

the more than 4 million residents of the federal

district and these territories lack full voting rep-

resentation in Congress, we made this change as

part of our organizational focus on racial justice

and equity and those communities of color bear-

ing the brunt of climate change’s effects. In the

past few years, major category 4+ hurricanes or

cyclones have struck all of the island territories,

and the District of Columbia is also at risk from

extreme weather events and tidal flooding. We

hope that the presence in the Scorecard of these

representatives will remind readers of their

need for greater representation and rights in

our democracy.


provisions, respond to the pandemic, and start to

deliver more racial and environmental justice. After

months of inaction and refusing to negotiate, Sen-

ate Republicans put forward an inadequate and

dangerous relief package (inserted in S. 178) that

failed on the floor for lack of support.

The House majority's leadership, with an average

score of 100 percent, stands in stark contrast to the

failure of the Senate majority's leadership, with an

average score of 14 percent, to respond to the pan-

demic and help families reeling from its economic

devastation with the urgency and scale needed. And

the breakneck speed with which Leader McConnell

rushed to confirm President Trump’s biased Supreme

Court pick, Amy Coney Barrett, just days before the

2020 election underscores his hypocritical power

grab and misguided focus on nominations to the det-

riment of tens of millions of people's health and liveli-

hoods. One of the most damaging legacies of Trump’s

presidency will be reshaping the federal judiciary

with his nomination, and the Senate’s confirmation,

of more than 218 extreme and partisan candidates

for lifetime appointments. In particular, the Supreme

Court wields immense power over the interpretation

of our bedrock environmental protections.

As the pandemic laid bare the longstanding racial

inequities in our country, our nation witnessed the

police killing of George Floyd, and protesters from

across the nation demanded systemic policing

and criminal justice reforms. The same damaging

system—racism—is at the root of climate injustice,

environmental injustice, and police brutality; these

struggles are intertwined and must be addressed

together. For the first time, LCV is scoring votes on

removing public monuments to racism and polic-

ing and criminal justice reform. There is a dire need

for changes in policing and criminal justice for so

many reasons, including so that Black, Indigenous,

and People of Color (BIPOC) can breathe freely

and participate equitably in our democracy, includ-

ing safely protesting, and we must look to 2021 for

these necessary changes.

In 2020, we not only faced crises, but amid these

crises, more people participated in our democracy—

casting their ballot in the 2020 elections—than ever

before. The House passed legislation to help BIPOC

participate more equitably in our democracy—for

the first time advancing statehood for Washington,

D.C. (H.R. 51) and supporting the U.S. Postal Service

(USPS) (H.R. 8015), which played an outsized role

in the smooth operation of the 2020 elections with

more than 65 million people voting by mail, or 40

percent of ballots cast, amidst the pandemic and

record turnout. Leader McConnell obstructed and

delayed here as well, ignoring the lack of voting rep-

resentation for the more than 700,000 people living

in the District of Columbia, primarily BIPOC, and de-

laying support for the USPS until after November’s

election. There is great anticipation and potential

during the 117th Congress to build upon 2020’s high

water mark in the fight for equal representation for a

majority BIPOC city of more than 700,000 residents.

While 2020 was dominated by a global pandemic,

the worst hurricane and wildfire seasons on record,

racially targeted violence and police brutality, and

both domestic and foreign government-sponsored

voter suppression, it also included the defeat of

the most anti-environmental president ever. The

dichotomy of Speaker Pelosi’s leadership and ac-

tion to tackle crises facing our country and Leader

McConnell’s complete disregard for the suffering of

people left much unfinished business to address the

pandemic, environmental injustice, climate change,

and racial injustice. With the added momentum of

policies that have already passed the House, we

have high hopes for enacting transformative change

in 2021 as we begin a new year, and new Congress,

and a new administration with a pro-environment,

pro-climate action trifecta in the White House, the

House, and the Senate.


2020 STATE AND TERRITORY AVERAGES

VOTING SUMMARY

SENATE

house

AS

DC

GU

State/Territory SENATE HOUSEAlabama 35 15

Alaska 12 33

Arkansas 15 12

American Samoa N/A 0

Arizona 38 57

California 88 85

Colorado 46 59

Connecticut 88 100

Delaware 92 95

District of Columbia N/A 100

Florida 8 55

Georgia 8 39

Guam N/A 100

Hawaii 96 88

Idaho 0 12

Illinois 92 78

Indiana 8 31

Iowa 8 74

Kansas 8 25

Kentucky 15 24

Louisiana 0 21

Maine 62 98

Maryland 92 87

Massachusetts 69 99

Michigan 92 61

Minnesota 77 64

Mississippi 12 31

Missouri 8 31

Montana 54 19

Nebraska 0 24

Nevada 92 80

New Hampshire 92 100

New Jersey 96 94

New Mexico 88 98

New York 100 86

North Carolina 15 30

North Dakota 15 0

Northern Mariana Islands N/A 100

Ohio 54 38

Oklahoma 0 23

Oregon 92 81

Pennsylvania 50 59

Puerto Rico N/A 0

Rhode Island 100 100

South Carolina 12 31

South Dakota 4 10

Tennessee 8 30

Texas 4 41

Utah 0 26

Vermont 77 100

Virgin Islands N/A 100

Virginia 92 66

Washington 92 76

West Virginia 35 19

Wisconsin 46 42

Wyoming 0 5

MP

PR

VI


LOWEST DELEGATIONS

HIGHEST DELEGATIONS

SENATE SCORES OF 100

HOUSE SCORES 95 and Over (green indicates 100)

New York 100%

Rhode Island 100%

Hawaii 96%

New Jersey 96%

Delaware 92%

Illinois 92%

Maryland 92%

Michigan 92%

Nevada 92%

New Hampshire 92%

Oregon 92%

Virginia 92%

Washington 92%

HIGHEST DELEGATIONS

Idaho 0%

Louisiana 0%

Nebraska 0%

Oklahoma 0%

Utah 0%

Wyoming 0%

South Dakota 4%

Texas 4%

American Samoa 0%

North Dakota 0%

Puerto Rico 0%

Wyoming 5%

South Dakota 10%

Arkansas 12%

Idaho 12%

Alabama 15%

Connecticut 100%

District of Columbia 100%

Guam 100%

New Hampshire 100%

Northern Mariana Islands 100%

Rhode Island 100%

Vermont 100%

Virgin Islands 100%

Massachusetts 99%

Maine 98%

New Mexico 98%

SENATE SCORES OF 0

ALABAMA Shelby

FLORIDA Scott

IDAHO Crapo · Risch

INDIANA Braun

KANSAS Moran

LOUISIANA Cassidy · Kennedy, J.

MISSOURI Hawley

NEBRASKA Fischer · Sasse

OKLAHOMA Inhofe · Lankford

SOUTH DAKOTA Rounds

TENNESSEE Blackburn

TEXAS Cruz

UTAH Lee, M · Romney

WISCONSIN Johnson, R

WYOMING Barrasso · Enzi

HOUSE SCORES OF 0

LOWEST DELEGATIONS

SENATE

house

ARIZONA O’Halleran · Grijalva · Gallego · Stanton

CALIFORNIA Huffman · Garamendi · Thompson, M · Matsui · Bera · McNerney · Harder · DeSaulnier · Lee, B · Speier, J · Swalwell · Costa · Khanna · Eshoo · Panetta · Carbajal · Brownley · Chu · Schiff · Cárdenas · Sherman · Aguilar · Napolitano · Lieu · Gomez · Torres · Ruiz · Bass · Sánchez · Cisneros · Roybal-Allard · Takano · Waters · Barragán · Porter · Correa · Lowenthal · Rouda · Levin, M · Vargas · Peters, S · Davis, S

COLORADO DeGette · Neguse · Crow · Perlmutter

CONNECTICUT Larson, J · Courtney · DeLauro · Himes · Hayes

DELAWARE Blunt Rochester

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Norton

FLORIDA Lawson · Murphy · Soto · Demings · Crist · Castor · Hastings · Frankel · Deutch · Wasserman Schultz · Wilson, F · Mucarsel-Powell · Shalala

GEORGIA Bishop, S · Johnson, H · Lewis, J · McBath · Scott, D

GUAM San Nicolas

HAWAII Case

ILLINOIS Rush · Kelly, R · García · Quigley · Casten · Davis, D · Krishnamoorthi · Schakowsky · Schneider · Foster · Underwood · Bustos

INDIANA Visclosky · Carson

IOWA Finkenauer · Loebsack · Axne

KENTUCKY Yarmuth

LOUISIANA Richmond

MAINE Pingree · Golden

MARYLAND Ruppersberger · Sarbanes · Brown, A · Hoyer · Trone · Mfume · Raskin

MASSACHUSETTS Neal · McGovern · Trahan · Kennedy, J · Clark, K · Moulton · Pressley · Lynch · Keating

MICHIGAN Kildee · Slotkin · Levin, A · Stevens · Dingell · Tlaib · Lawrence

MINNESOTA Craig · Phillips · McCollum · Omar

MISSISSIPPI Thompson, B

MISSOURI Clay

NEVADA Titus · Lee, S · Horsford

NEW HAMPSHIRE Pappas · Kuster

NEW JERSEY Norcross · Kim · Gottheimer · Pallone · Malinowski · Sires · Pascrell · Sherrill · Watson Coleman

NEW MEXICO Haaland · Torres Small · Luján

NEW YORK Suozzi · Meeks · Meng · Velázquez · Jeffries · Clarke, Y · Nadler · Rose · Maloney, C · Espaillat · Ocasio-Cortez · Engel · Lowey · Maloney, S · Delgado · Tonko · Brindisi · Higgins

NORTH CAROLINA Butterfield · Price · Adams

NORTHERN MARIANA

ISLANDS Sablan

OHIO Beatty · Ryan

OREGON Bonamici · Blumenauer · DeFazio

PENNSYLVANIA Boyle · Evans · Dean · Scanlon · Houlahan · Wild · Cartwright · Lamb · Doyle

RHODE ISLAND Cicilline · Langevin

SOUTH CAROLINA Clyburn

TENNESSEE Cooper · Cohen

TEXAS Fletcher · Green, A · Gonzalez · Escobar · Jackson Lee · Castro · Garcia · Johnson, E · Allred · Veasey · Vela · Doggett

VERMONT Welch

VIRGIN ISLANDS Plaskett

VIRGINIA Luria · Scott, R · McEachin · Spanberger · Beyer · Wexton · Connolly

WASHINGTON DelBene · Larsen · Kilmer · Jayapal · Schrier · Smith · Heck

WISCONSIN Pocan · Moore

ALABAMA Byrne · Brooks, M · Palmer

AMERICAN SAMOA Radewagen

ARIZONA Biggs · Lesko

CALIFORNIA McClintock · Hunter

COLORADO Buck

FLORIDA Yoho · Steube

GEORGIA Hice · Loudermilk · Allen

KANSAS Estes

KENTUCKY Massie

LOUISIANA Johnson, M

MARYLAND Harris, A

NORTH CAROLINA Bishop

NORTH DAKOTA Armstrong

OKLAHOMA Hern

PUERTO RICO González-Colón, J.

SOUTH CAROLINA Norman

TEXAS Gooden · Wright · Conaway · Weber · Arrington · Roy · Marchant · Cloud · Babin

VIRGINIA Cline

WISCONSIN Tiffany

HAWAII Schatz

NEW JERSEY Booker

NEW YORK Gillibrand · Schumer

RHODE ISLAND Reed · Whitehouse

2020 HIGH AND LOW SCORES


SENATECOMMITTEE CHAIR SCORE RANKING MEMBER SCORE

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Roberts (KS) 15 Stabenow (MI) 92

Appropriations Shelby (AL) 0 Leahy (VT) 92

Commerce, Science, and Transportation Wicker (MS) 15 Cantwell (WA) 92

Energy and Natural Resources Murkowski (AK) 15 Manchin (WV) 54

Environment and Public Works Barrasso (WY) 0 Carper (DE) 92

SENATE COMMITTEE LEADER AVERAGE CHAIRS 9 RANKING MEMBERS 84

HOUSECOMMITTEE CHAIR SCORE RANKING MEMBER SCORE

Agriculture Peterson (MN-07) 76 Conaway (TX-11) 0

Appropriations Lowey (NY-17) 100 Granger (TX-12) 14

Energy and Commerce Pallone (NJ-06) 100 Walden (OR-02) 19

Natural Resources Grijalva (AZ-03) 100 Bishop, R. (UT-01) 10

Science, Space, and Technology Johnson, E.B. (TX-30) 95 Lucas (OK-03) 10

Transportation and Infrastructure DeFazio (OR-04) 100 Graves, S. (MO-06) 14

Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Castor (FL-14) 100 Graves, G. (LA-06) 5

HOUSE COMMITTEE LEADER AVERAGE CHAIRS 96 RANKING MEMBERS 10

party leaders' scores

DEMOCRATS SCORE REPUBLICANS SCORE

Schumer (NY), Minority Leader 100 McConnell (KY), Majority Leader 23

Durbin (IL), Minority Whip 92 Cornyn (TX), Assistant Republican Leader 8

Murray (WA), Assistant Democratic Leader 92 Thune (SD), Conference Chair 8

Stabenow (MI), Chair of Policy and Communications Committee 92 Blunt (MO), Conference Vice Chair 15

LEADERSHIP AVERAGE 94 LEADERSHIP AVERAGE 14

DEMOCRATS SCORE REPUBLICANS SCORE

Pelosi (CA-12), Speaker of the House* N/A

Hoyer (MD-05), Majority Leader 100 McCarthy (CA-23), Minority Leader 14

Clyburn (SC-06), Majority Whip 100 Scalise (LA-01), Minority Whip 14

Luján, B.R. (NM-03), Assistant Speaker 100 Cheney (WY-AL), Conference Chair 5

Jeffries (NY-08), Caucus Chair 100 Palmer (AL-06), Policy Committee Chair 0

LEADERSHIP AVERAGE 100 LEADERSHIP AVERAGE 8

*The Speaker of the House votes at her discretion.

SENATE

HOUSE

RATING THE LEADERSHIP OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEES


2020 SENATE VOTE DESCRIPTIONS

1. USMCA TRADE DEALHouse Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) sponsored H.R. 5430, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (USMCA), which ratified President Trump’s trade deal that failed to even mention, let alone take action on, the climate crisis. The deal threatens our climate and communities by continuing to support fossil fuel development, including dirty tar sands oil and fracked natural gas, and allowing oil and gas companies in Mexico to challenge environmental and climate regulations through the Investor-State Dispute Settlement system, all while failing to recommit the U.S. to the Paris Climate Agreement. Additionally, the deal fell far short on what is necessary to significantly strengthen enforcement mechanisms, protect against illegal flora and fauna trade, or address outsourcing and dumping of toxic pollution into air and water. Ultimately, the final agreement helps corporate polluters and wasted a critical opportunity to address the climate crisis and environmental issues created by international trade. On January 16, the Senate approved H.R. 5430 by a vote of 89-10 (Senate roll call vote 14). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. President Trump signed the USMCA into law on January 29.

2. BRASHER CONFIRMATION (ELEVENTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS)The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of Andrew Brasher to be U.S. Circuit Court judge for the Eleventh Circuit. Circuit courts are often the ultimate arbiters of highly significant cases, including those involving environmental protections, and it is critical that the judges con-firmed to serve lifetime appointments on these courts are qualified, non-partisan, and committed to treating parties fairly. As Alabama Solicitor General, Brasher repeatedly attacked fundamental environmental protections and promoted restrictions on voting rights, falsely arguing that racist voter suppression efforts have “faded away.” On February 11, the Senate confirmed Brasher to the Eleventh Circuit by a vote of 52-43 (Senate roll call vote 36). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

3. KINDRED CONFIRMATION (U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA)The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of Joshua Kindred to be U.S. District Court judge for the District of Alaska. It is critical that the judges confirmed to serve lifetime appoint-ments on our federal courts are qualified, non-partisan, and committed to treating parties fairly. As counsel to the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, a lobbying institution primarily advocating for international fossil fuel corporations, Kindred spent much of his career fighting for the expansion of drilling projects across Alaska and repeatedly argued against protections for Alaska’s air, water, lands, and wildlife. Kindred’s willingness to disregard scientific evidence to promote fossil fuel production calls into question his ability to fairly consider facts as a federal judge. On February 12, the Senate confirmed Kindred to the District of Alaska by a vote of 54-41 (Senate roll call vote 41). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

4. MACGREGOR CONFIRMATION (INTERIOR DEPUTY SECRETARY) The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of Katharine MacGregor to serve as deputy secretary of the Interior. MacGregor has a long track record espousing views and taking actions against land and ocean conservation and in favor of extractive industries. Since 2017, she has occupied senior roles at the Department of the Interior and oversaw the implementation of the


administration’s “energy dominance” agenda that encompassed unprecedented rollbacks of pub-lic lands protections, such as eliminating over two million acres of national monument protec-tions; opening tens of millions of acres of sage grouse habitat to development; and efforts to lift protections in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans against new drilling. On February 25, the Senate confirmed MacGregor to be deputy secretary of the Interior by a vote of 58-38 (Senate roll call vote 60). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

5. DANLY CONFIRMATION (FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION)The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of James P. Danly to serve as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which regulates and oversees energy industries in the United States. Not only is Danly underqualified for the position, but also his nomination set a dangerous precedent by politicizing the traditionally independent and objective agency. Typically, FERC commissioners are advanced in pairs, but by confirming Danly without a Democratic counterpart, this vote threw out decades of precedent, creating legal uncertainty around FERC decisions and jeopardizing the agency’s ability to work on behalf of what is best for consumers, the climate, and our environment. On March 12, the Senate confirmed Danly to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by a vote of 52-40 (Senate roll call vote 72). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

6. DEFEATING EFFORT TO DERAIL THE GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACTDuring consideration of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) raised a “budget point of order” to this legislation, which was a procedural tactic that, if success-ful, would have killed the bill and denied funding for critical conservation investments contained in the underlying legislation. GAOA provides full and permanent funding of $900 million annu-ally for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and funding to address the deferred maintenance backlog in our national parks and other public lands. By investing in our public lands and waters, GAOA will protect our nation’s natural heritage and invaluable landscapes, enhance access to the outdoors and green spaces for communities nationwide, and provide much-needed repairs to deteriorating infrastructure in our national parks. With guaranteed funding into the future, GAOA honors existing federal commitments to conserve and maintain these irreplaceable public treasures. On June 15, the Senate approved a motion waiving the budget point of order on H.R. 1957, the vehicle for GAOA, by a vote of 68-30 (Senate roll call vote 118). YES IS THE PRO-ENVI-RONMENT VOTE. The Senate approved H.R. 1957 on June 17, the House approved it on July 22, and the president signed this legislation into law on August 4.

7. GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACTSenator Cory Gardner (R-CO) sponsored the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), which provides full and permanent funding of $900 million annually for the Land and Water Conserva-tion Fund and funding to address the deferred maintenance backlog in our national parks and other public lands. By investing in our public lands and waters, GAOA will protect our nation’s natural heritage and invaluable landscapes, enhance access to the outdoors and green spaces for communities nationwide, and provide much-needed repairs to deteriorating infrastructure in our national parks. With guaranteed funding into the future, GAOA honors existing federal com-


mitments to conserve and maintain these irreplaceable public treasures. On June 17, the Senate approved H.R. 1957, the vehicle for GAOA, by a vote of 73-25 (Senate roll call vote 121). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The House approved H.R. 1957 on July 22 and the president signed this legislation into law on August 4.

8. WALKER CONFIRMATION (D.C. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS)The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of Justin Walker to be U.S. Circuit Court judge for the D.C. Circuit. Circuit courts are often the ultimate arbiters of highly significant cases, including those involving environmental protections, and it is critical that the judges confirmed to serve lifetime appointments on these courts are qualified, non-partisan, and committed to treating parties fairly. Walker, a hyper-partisan who lacks the temperament or experience to serve fairly as a judge, was selected for his connections and willingness to fulfill partisan political goals on the bench. A former intern of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who appeared on Fox News dozens of times in defense of Justice Kavanaugh and the president, Walker lacked sufficient experience or credibility to serve on one of the most powerful federal courts in our country. On June 18, the Senate confirmed Walker to the D.C. Circuit by a vote of 51-42 (Senate roll call vote 123). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

9. WILSON CONFIRMATION (FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS)The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of Cory Wilson to be U.S. Circuit Court judge for the Fifth Circuit. Circuit courts are often the ultimate arbiters of highly significant cases, including those involving environmental protections, and it is critical that the judges confirmed to serve lifetime appointments on these courts are qualified, non-partisan, and committed to treating parties fairly. Wilson has made repeated and untrue attacks against voting access, an especially problematic record given his home state of Mississippi’s history of racist voter sup-pression and intimidation. Additionally, Wilson’s repeated and partisan attacks against President Obama, progressive policies, and those who support them reflect a lack of judicial temperament. On June 24, the Senate confirmed Wilson to the Fifth Circuit by a vote of 52-48 (Senate roll call vote 125). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

10. INADEQUATE POLICING REFORM Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) sponsored S. 3985, the JUSTICE Act, which would inadequately ad-dress the need for comprehensive policing reform. Black people have endured systemic racism and abusive policing practices for generations, but the mere incremental reforms and increased police funding of S. 3985 fail to address the priorities of racial justice organizations. Despite the outcry from racial justice organizations and activists following the deaths of George Floyd, Bre-onna Taylor, Jacob Blake, and many others, S. 3985 fails to address racial profiling, no-knock war-rants, militarization equipment, or restrictions on use of force such as chokeholds. Environmental justice requires racial and social justice, and an effort to pass a legislative half-measure instead of meaningful change is unacceptable. On June 24, the motion to invoke cloture was rejected by a vote of 55-45 (60 votes were needed to pass the motion; Senate roll call vote 126) and the proposal did not move forward. NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.


11. INADEQUATE COVID RELIEF PACKAGESenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attempted a vote on a bare-bones COVID-19 relief package instead of taking up a bill that met the needs of the country. In the midst of a raging pandemic causing disproportionate suffering in communities of color and Trump’s appointee as Postmaster General attempting to sway the upcoming election by delaying the delivery of mail-in ballots, the proposal would provide little funding for testing or public health response and merely provide loan forgiveness for the U.S. Postal Service and only if the agency got into even more dire financial straits. Unfortunately, it also would let companies off the hook for actions that endanger their employees, customers, and broader community. Among other failings, this inadequate bill would not have provided critical relief in the form of additional funding for state and local gov-ernments, vote-by-mail and election assistance to ensure smooth operation of our democracy, or a moratorium on utility disconnects at a time when it is even more essential for homes to have clean water for hand washing and heat and cooling, since community warming or cooling centers would defeat social distancing efforts. And it would provide unrelated and unnecessary support to extractive industries and coal companies. Environmental justice requires addressing the gross inequities and disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, and liability-erasing legislative half-measures are unacceptable. On September 10, the motion to invoke cloture was rejected by a vote of 52-47 (60 votes were needed to pass the motion; Senate roll call vote 168) and the proposal did not move forward. NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

12. BARRETT CLOTURE VOTE (SUPREME COURT)The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court holds immense power to protect our right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and participate equitably in our democracy. Justices on the court have an impact lasting generations, and it is essential that they respect precedent, interpret the law in a fair and well-reasoned manner, and act as an independent check on the president. Barrett’s record reflects a philosophy that will make it harder for those suffering environmental harms to get their day in court, and for federal agencies to issue critical public protections. As an appeals court judge, Barrett repeatedly applied a narrow view of the public’s right to access the courts, her academic writings suggest a willingness to undermine critical environmental protections, and during her confirmation hearing she was repeatedly unwilling to acknowledge the science of climate change. In addition to her environmental record, the flawed nomination process further delayed CO-VID-19 relief, and was a blatant and hypocritical power grab by the same congressional leaders who refused a hearing for Judge Garland’s nomination to the Court. On October 25, the Senate invoked cloture on Barrett’s nomination by a vote of 51-48 (Senate roll call vote 222). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.


13. BARRETT CONFIRMATION (SUPREME COURT)The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court holds immense power to protect our right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and participate equitably in our democracy. Justices on the court have an impact lasting generations, and it is essential that they respect precedent, interpret the law in a fair and well-reasoned manner, and act as an independent check on the president. Barrett’s record reflects a philosophy that will make it harder for those suffering environmental harms to get their day in court, and for federal agencies to issue critical public protections. As an appeals court judge, Barrett repeatedly applied a narrow view of the public’s right to access the courts, her academic writings suggest a willingness to undermine critical environmental protections, and during her confirmation hearing she was repeatedly unwilling to acknowledge the science of climate change. In addition to her environmental record, the flawed nomination process further delayed CO-VID-19 relief, and was a blatant and hypocritical power grab by the same congressional leaders who refused a hearing for Judge Garland’s nomination to the Court. On October 26, the Senate approved Barrett’s nomination by a vote of 52-48 (Senate roll call vote 224). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

SENATE VOTES

20

20

116

th C

on

gre

ss

Lif

eti

me

US

MC

A T

rad

e D

eal

#14

B

rash

er C

onfi

rmat

ion

(Ele

vent

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt

of A

pp

eal

s) #

36

K

ind

red

Co

nfirm

atio

n (U

.S. D

istr

ict

Co

urt

for

the

Dis

tric

t o

f Ala

ska)

#41

M

acG

reg

or C

onf

irmat

ion

(Int

erio

r De

pu

ty

Se

cre

tary

) #6

0

Dan

ly C

onf

irmat

ion

(FE

RC

Me

mb

er)

#72

Def

eat

ing

Eff

ort

to D

era

il th

e G

reat

Am

eric

an

Ou

tdo

ors

Act

#11

8G

reat

Am

eric

an O

utd

oo

rs A

ct #

121

Wal

ker C

onf

irmat

ion

(D.C

. Circ

uit

Co

urt

of

Ap

pe

als)

#12

3W

ilso

n C

onf

irmat

ion

(Fift

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt o

f A

pp

eal

s) #

125

Inad

equ

ate

Po

licin

g R

efo

rm #

126

Inad

eq

uat

e C

OV

ID R

elie

f Pac

kag

e #

168

Bar

rett

Clo

ture

Vo

te (S

up

rem

e C

ou

rt) #

22

2B

arre

tt C

onf

irmat

ion

(Su

pre

me

Co

urt

) #2

24

LCV SCORESKEY%= Pro-environment action ✖ = Anti-environment actioni= Ineligible to vote ? = Absence (counts as negative) = Excused (does not count)

14 scorecard.lcv.org | 2020 National Environmental Scorecard · LCV

ALABAMA

Jones D 69 78 78 ✖ % % ? ✖ % % % % ✖ % % %

Shelby R 0 15 13 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

ALASKA

Murkowski R 15 26 18 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖

Sullivan R 8 11 8 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ? ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

ARIZONA

McSally R 15 15 8 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Sinema D 62 67 76 ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ? % % % % %

ARKANSAS

Boozman R 15 19 8 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Cotton R 15 15 4 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

CALIFORNIA

Feinstein D 92 96 90 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Harris, K.* D 85 78 90 % % % % % % % % % % ? ? %

COLORADO

Bennet** D 77 81 88 ✖ ? ? % % % % % % % % % %

Gardner R 15 26 11 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

CONNECTICUT

Blumenthal D 92 96 97 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Murphy, C. D 85 93 96 ✖ % % ✖ % % % % % % % % %

DELAWARE

Carper D 92 96 84 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Coons D 92 96 94 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

* Senator Harris missed a number of votes while campaigning for U.S. vice-president.** Senator Bennet missed a number of votes while campaigning for U.S. president.

SENATE VOTES

20

20

116

th C

on

gre

ss

Lif

eti

me

US

MC

A T

rad

e D

eal

#14

B

rash

er C

onfi

rmat

ion

(Ele

vent

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt

of A

pp

eal

s) #

36

K

ind

red

Co

nfirm

atio

n (U

.S. D

istr

ict

Co

urt

for

the

Dis

tric

t o

f Ala

ska)

#41

M

acG

reg

or C

onf

irmat

ion

(Int

erio

r De

pu

ty

Se

cre

tary

) #6

0

Dan

ly C

onf

irmat

ion

(FE

RC

Me

mb

er)

#72

Def

eat

ing

Eff

ort

to D

era

il th

e G

reat

Am

eric

an

Ou

tdo

ors

Act

#11

8G

reat

Am

eric

an O

utd

oo

rs A

ct #

121

Wal

ker C

onf

irmat

ion

(D.C

. Circ

uit

Co

urt

of

Ap

pe

als)

#12

3W

ilso

n C

onf

irmat

ion

(Fift

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt o

f A

pp

eal

s) #

125

Inad

equ

ate

Po

licin

g R

efo

rm #

126

Inad

eq

uat

e C

OV

ID R

elie

f Pac

kag

e #

168

Bar

rett

Clo

ture

Vo

te (S

up

rem

e C

ou

rt) #

22

2B

arre

tt C

onf

irmat

ion

(Su

pre

me

Co

urt

) #2

24


2020 National Environmental Scorecard · LCV | scorecard.lcv.org 15

FLORIDA

Rubio R 15 11 6 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖Scott R 0 4 4 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ? ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

GEORGIA

Loeffler R 8 N/A 8 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Perdue R 8 11 4 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ? ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

HAWAII

Hirono D 92 96 95 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Schatz D 100 100 98 % % % % % % % % % % % % %

IDAHO

Crapo R 0 4 6 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Risch R 0 4 7 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

ILLINOIS

Duckworth D 92 96 90 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Durbin D 92 96 88 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

INDIANA

Braun R 0 4 4 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Young, T. R 15 22 5 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

IOWA

Ernst R 8 11 4 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Grassley R 8 7 18 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

KANSAS

Moran R 15 7 8 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ? ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Roberts R 15 22 9 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

SENATE VOTES

20

20

116

th C

on

gre

ss

Lif

eti

me

US

MC

A T

rad

e D

eal

#14

B

rash

er C

onfi

rmat

ion

(Ele

vent

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt

of A

pp

eal

s) #

36

K

ind

red

Co

nfirm

atio

n (U

.S. D

istr

ict

Co

urt

for

the

Dis

tric

t o

f Ala

ska)

#41

M

acG

reg

or C

onf

irmat

ion

(Int

erio

r De

pu

ty

Se

cre

tary

) #6

0

Dan

ly C

onf

irmat

ion

(FE

RC

Me

mb

er)

#72

Def

eat

ing

Eff

ort

to D

era

il th

e G

reat

Am

eric

an

Ou

tdo

ors

Act

#11

8G

reat

Am

eric

an O

utd

oo

rs A

ct #

121

Wal

ker C

onf

irmat

ion

(D.C

. Circ

uit

Co

urt

of

Ap

pe

als)

#12

3W

ilso

n C

onf

irmat

ion

(Fift

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt o

f A

pp

eal

s) #

125

Inad

equ

ate

Po

licin

g R

efo

rm #

126

Inad

eq

uat

e C

OV

ID R

elie

f Pac

kag

e #

168

Bar

rett

Clo

ture

Vo

te (S

up

rem

e C

ou

rt) #

22

2B

arre

tt C

onf

irmat

ion

(Su

pre

me

Co

urt

) #2

24



KENTUCKY

McConnell R 23 19 8 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖

Paul R 8 4 8 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖

LOUISIANA

Cassidy R 0 4 7 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Kennedy, John R 0 4 3 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

MAINE

Collins R 46 56 60 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % % % ✖ ✖ % %

King, A. I 77 85 89 ✖ % % ✖ % % % % % ✖ % % %

MARYLAND

Cardin D 92 96 92 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Van Hollen D 92 96 98 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

MASSACHUSETTS

Markey D 77 89 94 % % % % % ? ? ? % % % % %

Warren* D 62 70 93 ✖ ? ? ? ? % % % % % % % %

MICHIGAN

Peters, G. D 92 96 93 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Stabenow D 92 96 90 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

MINNESOTA

Klobuchar** D 62 70 92 ✖ ? ? ? ? % % % % % % % %

Smith D 92 96 98 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

MISSISSIPPI

Hyde✖-Smith R 8 19 15 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Wicker R 15 11 6 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

* Senator Warren missed a number of votes while campaigning for U.S. president.** Senator Klobuchar missed a number of votes while campaigning for U.S. president.

SENATE VOTES

20

20

116

th C

on

gre

ss

Lif

eti

me

US

MC

A T

rad

e D

eal

#14

B

rash

er C

onfi

rmat

ion

(Ele

vent

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt

of A

pp

eal

s) #

36

K

ind

red

Co

nfirm

atio

n (U

.S. D

istr

ict

Co

urt

for

the

Dis

tric

t o

f Ala

ska)

#41

M

acG

reg

or C

onf

irmat

ion

(Int

erio

r De

pu

ty

Se

cre

tary

) #6

0

Dan

ly C

onf

irmat

ion

(FE

RC

Me

mb

er)

#72

Def

eat

ing

Eff

ort

to D

era

il th

e G

reat

Am

eric

an

Ou

tdo

ors

Act

#11

8G

reat

Am

eric

an O

utd

oo

rs A

ct #

121

Wal

ker C

onf

irmat

ion

(D.C

. Circ

uit

Co

urt

of

Ap

pe

als)

#12

3W

ilso

n C

onf

irmat

ion

(Fift

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt o

f A

pp

eal

s) #

125

Inad

equ

ate

Po

licin

g R

efo

rm #

126

Inad

eq

uat

e C

OV

ID R

elie

f Pac

kag

e #

168

Bar

rett

Clo

ture

Vo

te (S

up

rem

e C

ou

rt) #

22

2B

arre

tt C

onf

irmat

ion

(Su

pre

me

Co

urt

) #2

24



MISSOURI

Blunt R 15 19 6 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖Hawley R 0 4 4 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

MONTANA

Daines R 15 22 7 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Tester D 92 96 88 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

NEBRASKA

Fischer R 0 4 5 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Sasse R 0 0 2 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

NEVADA

Cortez Masto D 92 96 95 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Rosen* D 92 96 95 ✖ % % % % % % E % % % % %

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Hassan D 92 96 98 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Shaheen D 92 96 96 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

NEW JERSEY

Booker D 100 74 93 % % % % % % % % % % % % %

Menendez D 92 96 95 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

NEW MEXICO

Heinrich D 85 89 93 ✖ % % ✖ % % % % % % % % %

Udall D 92 96 96 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

NEW YORK

Gillibrand D 100 96 95 % % % % % % % % % % % % %

Schumer D 100 100 92 % % % % % % % % % % % % %

* Senator Rosen entered a statement into the Congressional Record noting how she would have voted on roll call vote 123, which would have been scored as pro-environment. She was absent from roll call vote 123 due to a family medical issue.

SENATE VOTES

20

20

116

th C

on

gre

ss

Lif

eti

me

US

MC

A T

rad

e D

eal

#14

B

rash

er C

onfi

rmat

ion

(Ele

vent

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt

of A

pp

eal

s) #

36

K

ind

red

Co

nfirm

atio

n (U

.S. D

istr

ict

Co

urt

for

the

Dis

tric

t o

f Ala

ska)

#41

M

acG

reg

or C

onf

irmat

ion

(Int

erio

r De

pu

ty

Se

cre

tary

) #6

0

Dan

ly C

onf

irmat

ion

(FE

RC

Me

mb

er)

#72

Def

eat

ing

Eff

ort

to D

era

il th

e G

reat

Am

eric

an

Ou

tdo

ors

Act

#11

8G

reat

Am

eric

an O

utd

oo

rs A

ct #

121

Wal

ker C

onf

irmat

ion

(D.C

. Circ

uit

Co

urt

of

Ap

pe

als)

#12

3W

ilso

n C

onf

irmat

ion

(Fift

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt o

f A

pp

eal

s) #

125

Inad

equ

ate

Po

licin

g R

efo

rm #

126

Inad

eq

uat

e C

OV

ID R

elie

f Pac

kag

e #

168

Bar

rett

Clo

ture

Vo

te (S

up

rem

e C

ou

rt) #

22

2B

arre

tt C

onf

irmat

ion

(Su

pre

me

Co

urt

) #2

24



NORTH CAROLINA

Burr R 15 22 9 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Tillis R 15 19 10 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

NORTH DAKOTA

Cramer R 15 15 3 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Hoeven R 15 15 9 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

OHIO

Brown, S. D 92 96 94 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Portman R 15 22 19 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

OKLAHOMA

Inhofe R 0 0 5 ? ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Lankford R 0 0 4 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

OREGON

Merkley D 92 96 99 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Wyden D 92 96 91 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

PENNSYLVANIA

Casey D 92 96 93 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Toomey R 8 4 5 % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

RHODE ISLAND

Reed, J. D 100 100 97 % % % % % % % % % % % % %

Whitehouse D 100 93 97 % % % % % % % % % % % % %

SOUTH CAROLINA

Graham, L. R 15 22 13 ✖ ? ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Scott, T. R 8 11 4 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

SOUTH DAKOTA

Rounds R 0 11 5 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Thune R 8 11 10 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

SENATE VOTES

20

20

116

th C

on

gre

ss

Lif

eti

me

US

MC

A T

rad

e D

eal

#14

B

rash

er C

onfi

rmat

ion

(Ele

vent

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt

of A

pp

eal

s) #

36

K

ind

red

Co

nfirm

atio

n (U

.S. D

istr

ict

Co

urt

for

the

Dis

tric

t o

f Ala

ska)

#41

M

acG

reg

or C

onf

irmat

ion

(Int

erio

r De

pu

ty

Se

cre

tary

) #6

0

Dan

ly C

onf

irmat

ion

(FE

RC

Me

mb

er)

#72

Def

eat

ing

Eff

ort

to D

era

il th

e G

reat

Am

eric

an

Ou

tdo

ors

Act

#11

8G

reat

Am

eric

an O

utd

oo

rs A

ct #

121

Wal

ker C

onf

irmat

ion

(D.C

. Circ

uit

Co

urt

of

Ap

pe

als)

#12

3W

ilso

n C

onf

irmat

ion

(Fift

h C

ircu

it C

ou

rt o

f A

pp

eal

s) #

125

Inad

equ

ate

Po

licin

g R

efo

rm #

126

Inad

eq

uat

e C

OV

ID R

elie

f Pac

kag

e #

168

Bar

rett

Clo

ture

Vo

te (S

up

rem

e C

ou

rt) #

22

2B

arre

tt C

onf

irmat

ion

(Su

pre

me

Co

urt

) #2

24



TENNESSEE

Alexander R 15 26 20 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖Blackburn R 0 11 3 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

TEXAS

Cornyn R 8 7 5 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖Cruz R 0 0 3 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ? ? ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

UTAH

Lee, M. R 0 0 6 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Romney R 0 7 7 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

VERMONT

Leahy D 92 96 94 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Sanders* I 62 65 90 % ? ? ? ? % % ? % % % % %

VIRGINIA

Kaine D 92 96 95 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Warner D 92 96 88 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

WASHINGTON

Cantwell** D 92 96 93 ✖ % % % E % % % % % % % %

Murray† D 92 92 91 ✖ % % % % % E E % % % % %

WEST VIRGINIA

Capito R 15 22 17 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Manchin D 54 70 49 ✖ % ✖ ✖ ✖ % % ? % ✖ % % %

WISCONSIN

Baldwin D 92 96 97 ✖ % % % % % % % % % % % %

Johnson, R. R 0 0 3 ✖ ✖ ? ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

WYOMING

Barrasso R 0 4 7 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Enzi R 0 4 5 ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

* Senator Sanders missed a number of votes while campaigning for U.S. president.** Senator Cantwell was absent for roll call vote 72 due to adhering to COVID-19 protocol established by the Capitol Physician.† Senator Murray was absent for roll call votes 121 and 123 due to medical leave.


2020 HOUSE VOTE DESCRIPTIONS

1. CLOSING THE PFAS CLEAN WATER LOOPHOLERepresentative Chris Pappas (D-NH) sponsored an amendment to H.R. 535, the PFAS Action Act of 2019, which would close the loophole in the Clean Water Act that currently allows companies to discharge unlimited amounts of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) into waterways. Also called “forever chemicals” in recognition of their persistence in the environment and our bodies, PFAS are used in many consumer products and industrial applications but have been linked to numerous health problems like certain cancers, thyroid disease, neurological development issues, and more. The Pappas amendment would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review ongoing PFAS discharges and establish clear treatment limits in order to protect the health of our families and environment. Additionally, it would create a grant program authorized at $100 million annually to help municipal sewage treatment plants control PFAS discharges. On January 10, the House approved the Pappas amendment by a vote of 242-168 (House roll call vote 11). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The House passed H.R. 535, with the Pappas amendment, on January 10, but the Senate took no action on this legislation.

2. PROTECTING PEOPLE FROM PFAS POLLUTIONRepresentative Debbie Dingell (D-MI) sponsored H.R. 535, the PFAS Action Act of 2019, which would take important steps in addressing the growing national PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) crisis that is threatening the health of millions of people across the country. Also called “forever chemicals” in recognition of their persistence in the environment and our bodies, PFAS are used in many consumer products and industrial applications but have been linked to numerous health problems like certain cancers, thyroid disease, neurological development issues, and more. H.R. 535 would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set a drink-ing water standard for PFAS within two years, regulate certain PFAS through the Clean Air Act, require drinking water monitoring for PFAS, increase transparency through the Toxics Release Inventory, and provide funding for water treatment. Additionally, it would provide consumers with knowledge of products containing PFAS by adding PFAS to the EPA’s Safer Choice Program. On January 10, the House approved H.R. 535 by a vote of 247-159 (House roll call vote 13). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.

3. GREAT LAKES RESTORATION INITIATIVERepresentatives David Joyce (R-OH) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) sponsored H.R. 4031, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019, which reauthorized the Great Lakes Restoration Initia-tive through fiscal year 2026 and increases funding to $475 million by 2026. Since 2010, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has been critical in helping to clean up the Great Lakes by reducing pollution like phosphorus that contributes to harmful algal blooms, keeping out invasive species like Asian carp, restoring the coastline, and preventing future contamination. On February 5, the House approved H.R. 4031 by a vote of 373-45 (House roll call vote 36). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate approved H.R. 4031 by unanimous consent on December 20 and President Trump signed it into law on January 5, 2021.


4. PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS TO ORGANIZEChair Robert Scott (D-VA) sponsored H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019. This bill would empower employees by strengthening workers’ rights to collectively bargain for higher wages, safer working conditions and better benefits. As we transition to a clean energy economy, protecting workers’ rights to organize would help ensure that the jobs created are good, family-sustaining jobs that address economic inequality. Additionally, unionized workers are bet-ter equipped to handle potentially hazardous workplace situations and have more support and protection to blow the whistle in dangerous situations. This can avert industrial accidents and result in safer communities, as well as cleaner air and water. On February 6, the House approved H.R. 2474 by a vote of 224-194 (House roll call vote 50). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.

5. EMERGENCY AND CLIMATE DISASTER AID FOR PUERTO RICOChair Nita Lowey (D-NY) sponsored H.R. 5687, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, 2020. This bill would provide much needed funding to Puerto Rico to recover and rebuild from a series of destructive earthquakes and hurricanes, which were made more damaging by climate change. More than two years later, families in Puerto Rico are still suffering from the severe damage done to their communities by Hurricane Maria, when the massive storm destroyed almost all of the electric utility infrastruc-ture. Adequate funding is also necessary to make infrastructure more resilient to the more fre-quent and damaging climate change-fueled hurricanes. On February 7, the House approved H.R. 5687 by a vote of 237-161 (House roll call vote 54). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.

6. PROTECTING WILDERNESS ACROSS THE WEST Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) sponsored H.R. 2546, the Protecting America’s Wilder-ness (PAW) Act, which would permanently protect 1.37 million acres of public lands and waters across California, Colorado, and Washington. The PAW Act, an ambitious public lands package, combined six bills: H.R. 2546, the Colorado Wilderness Act; H.R. 2250, the Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation and Working Forests Act; H.R. 2199, the Central Coast Heritage Protec-tion Act; H.R. 2215, the San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers Act; H.R. 1708, the Rim of Valley Corridor Protection Act; and H.R. 2642, the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This legislation would preserve majestic landscapes and rivers for future gen-erations, protect tribal lands and cultural sites from oil and gas development, improve access to public lands for underserved communities, address the threats of climate change by increasing wildfire resiliency, and boost our country’s thriving outdoor recreation economy. On February 12, the House approved H.R. 2546 by a vote of 231-183 (House roll call vote 69). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. While the Senate took no action on H.R. 2546, its text was added as an amendment on July 21 to the House version of H.R. 6395, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act, but the language was stripped in the conference committee and not included in the bill that became law on January 1, 2021.


7. HEROES ACT COVID-19 RELIEF PACKAGEChair Nita Lowey (D-NY) sponsored H.R. 6800, the Heroes Act. This bill would provide funding to state and local governments, tribes, and territories to maintain the essential services they pro-vide and additional funding to support transit. Additionally, this bill included a moratorium on all utility disconnects and a mandate that no household lose water service due to inability to pay, $3.6 billion dedicated to election assistance funding, environmental justice grants to understand the links between pollution exposure and the impacts of COVID-19, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration emergency standard, and support for the U.S. Postal Service at a time when President Trump’s Postmaster General was sabotaging mail delivery ahead of a national election in which millions of voters were poised to vote by mail as a safe alternative to in-person voting. On May 15, the House approved H.R. 6800 by a vote of 208-199 (House roll call vote 109). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. On December 27, the president signed into law bare-bones COVID-19 relief as part of the year-end package (H.R. 133), which included support for transit agencies but none of the other important provisions listed above.

8. WASHINGTON, D.C. STATEHOODRepresentative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sponsored H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Ad-mission Act, which would provide statehood to D.C. and its more than 700,000 residents. For far too long, residents of Washington, D.C. have been denied a vote in Congress and the ability to govern locally without the threat of targeted interference. D.C. residents face a disproportionate impact of our federal government’s failure to act on climate and other pressing environmental harms. Low-income, Black and Indigenous communities have historically suffered the conse-quences of pollution and public health risks, and D.C. residents, more than half of whom are people of color, have experienced this environmental racism for generations. H.R. 51 seeks to address this injustice by admitting D.C. into the union with full representation in Congress. On June 26, the House approved H.R. 51 by a vote of 232-180 (House roll call vote 122). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.

9. HARMING WORKERS BY ROLLING BACK WAGE PROTECTIONSRepresentative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) offered an amendment to H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, which would roll back wage protections that are currently in place to protect workers in federally-aided highway and public transportation projects. Prevailing wage protections, otherwise known as Davis-Bacon laws, prevent contractors from bringing in outside labor and undercutting the local rate, or the prevailing wage for the area, and are essential to protecting good jobs, ensuring all workers earn a fair wage, and can be an important tool in reducing pay gaps for women and people of color. Economic inequality and the climate crisis are inextricably linked, and supporting high-quality jobs is an essential part of shifting from an exploitative economic model to one that values workers and protects our environment. On July 1, the House rejected the Foxx amendment by a vote of 147-274 (House roll call vote 135). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.


10. ELIMINATING LEAD SERVICE LINES TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTHRepresentative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) offered an amendment to H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, which would invest $4.5 billion per year for five years to fully replace lead service lines that pro-vide drinking water to communities across the nation. The funding would prioritize disadvan-taged and environmental justice communities, who disproportionately have lead service lines in their homes. No level of lead is safe, and lead in drinking water can particularly harm the develop-ing brains of children. On July 1, the House approved the Tlaib amendment by a vote of 240-181 (House roll call vote 136). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The House approved H.R. 2 on July 1, but the Senate took no action on this legislation.

11. INVESTING IN CLIMATE-AMBITIOUS INFRASTRUCTUREChair Peter DeFazio (D-OR) sponsored H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, which would reautho-rize surface transportation programs, fund water infrastructure improvements, and help tackle climate change and environmental justice through numerous different programs. This bill repre-sents an important down payment on a healthy and safe clean energy economy and would put clean energy workers back to work now, ensure communities have clean drinking water systems, protect public health by reducing air pollution, build transportation and energy infrastructure more resilient to climate change’s impacts, and preserve nature. This wide-ranging infrastructure package would help directly confront environmental racism by, among other policies, replacing lead pipes and reducing the roadway air pollution that exposes Black, Indigenous, and people of color to higher levels of toxic pollution. On July 1, the House approved H.R. 2 by a vote of 233-188 (House roll call vote 138). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.

12. MAINTAINING SUSPENSION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTINGRepresentative Ben McAdams (D-UT) offered an amendment to H.R. 6395, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, which would pro-hibit the use of NDAA fiscal year 2021 funds for explosive nuclear testing and put in place restric-tions on any resumption of nuclear test explosions in the future. Earlier this year, senior national security officials in the Trump administration actively discussed the resumption of nuclear weap-ons testing in Nevada, a move that would cause turmoil with international partners with whom the U.S. has multilateral arms agreements and pose significant risks to human health and the environment. This amendment would honor international arms agreements and safeguard com-munities and the environment from the devastating effects of nuclear weapons testing. On July 20, the House approved the McAdams amendment by a vote of 227-179 (House roll call vote 142). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. On January 1, 2021, H.R. 6395 became law after the Senate approved it again, over President Trump’s veto. Neither the House-approved funding prohibition nor the Senate’s $10 million for conducting explosive nuclear tests were included in the final bill.


13. PROTECTING THE GRAND CANYON AND COLORADO’S PUBLIC LANDSRepresentative Joe Neguse (D-CO) offered an amendment to H.R. 6395, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which would add the text of H.R. 823, the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act, designating 400,000 acres of wilderness areas in Colorado, supporting the growing outdoor recreation economy in the state, and honoring our veterans by designating Camp Hale as the first National Historical Landscape. The amendment would also withdraw one million acres of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park from new mining claims to protect our cultural and natural heritage as well as the tribal communities and sacred sites, local economies, and safe water supplies in and near this iconic landscape. On July 21, the House approved the Neguse amendment by a vote of 234-181 (House roll call vote 147). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Neguse language was not included in any version of H.R. 6395 that passed the Senate, and on January 1, 2021, the bill became law without the Neguse language.

14. GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACTRepresentative Joe Cunningham (D-SC) sponsored the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), which provides full and permanent funding of $900 million annually for the Land and Water Conservation Fund as well as funding to address the deferred maintenance backlog in our na-tional parks and other public lands. By investing in our public lands and waters, GAOA will protect our nation’s natural heritage and invaluable landscapes, enhance access to the outdoors and green spaces for communities nationwide, and provide much-needed repairs to deteriorat-ing infrastructure in our national parks. On July 22, the House approved H.R. 1957, the vehicle for GAOA, by a vote of 310-107 (House roll call vote 155). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate approved H.R. 1957 on June 17, and the president signed this legislation into law on August 4.

15. REMOVING CONFEDERATE STATUES FROM THE U.S. CAPITOLHouse Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) sponsored H.R. 7573, a bill to remove all statues of individuals who voluntarily served in the Confederacy from the U.S. Capitol building, starting with John C. Calhoun, Charles B. Aycock, and John C. Clarke, who defended slavery, segregation, and white supremacy. This bill would also replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney—the Chief Jus-tice of the Supreme Court who wrote the majority opinion in the notorious ruling of 1857, which defended both slavery and white supremacy—with a bust of Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court’s first Black justice and a champion for justice and equality. This is a small but important step in helping to ameliorate the pain that racism has caused Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other people of color over centuries by removing celebrations of our nation’s history of oppression from public spaces—especially in the U.S. Capitol, a building that belongs to the people. On July 22, the House approved H.R. 7573 by a vote of 305-113 (House roll call vote 156). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.


16. BLOCKING TRUMP’S INADEQUATE SOOT STANDARDRepresentative Paul Tonko (D-NY), as designee of Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), offered an amendment to H.R. 7608, the State, Foreign Operations, Agriculture, Rural Develop-ment, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2021, which would block the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing the Trump Ad-ministration’s inadequate proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Mat-ter, or soot. This proposed rule ignores the recommendations of scientists and agency experts, and it does not do enough to protect communities, particularly communities of color, from dan-gerous air pollution. Protecting vulnerable community members from the health impacts of air pollution is required under the Clean Air Act and is particularly pressing since COVID-19 is a respiratory pandemic disproportionately affecting communities of color. On July 24, the House approved the Tonko-Blunt Rochester amendment by a vote of 233-176 (House roll call vote 163). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The House passed H.R. 7608, including the Tonko-Blunt Rochester amendment, on July 24. The Tonko-Blunt Rochester amendment was not included in the FY21 Appropriations bill (H.R. 133) that became law.

17. SLASHING EPA FUNDINGRepresentative Jason Smith (R-MO) offered an amendment to H.R. 7608, the State, Foreign Op-erations, Agriculture, Rural Development, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2021, which would have slashed the Environmental Protec-tion Agency’s (EPA) program funding to align with the draconian cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Adequate funding of the EPA is critical to ensuring that the federal government can implement and enforce the various statutes that protect public health and the environment in order to fulfill the promise of clean air, water, and healthy lands for all people. On July 24, the House rejected the Smith amendment by a vote of 155-256 (House roll call vote 164). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

18. PRO-ENVIRONMENT FUNDING PACKAGE Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY) sponsored H.R. 7608, the State, Foreign Operations, Agriculture, Rural Development, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2021, which would boost funding for critical environmental, public health, and public lands programs for Fiscal Year 2021, including Environmental Justice, Superfund, Brownfields, and Diesel Emissions Reduction Act programs at the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, the bill would block extractive activities in or near the Arctic Refuge, Chaco Canyon, the Bound-ary Waters, the Tongass National Forest, and off our coasts. Importantly, the bill also adds $10.2 billion to the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds as much needed emergency supplemental funding. The bill would block attempts by the Trump administration to take away states’ rights to protect their waterways, weaken the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for power plants, and suppress science used in rulemaking. On July 24, the House approved H.R. 7608 by a vote of 224-189 (House roll call vote 166). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. A different bill, the year-end Appropriations and COVID-19 relief package (H.R. 133) approved by Congress and signed into law by the president on December 27, provided funding in line with FY20 amounts for environmental programs for the rest of FY21, but included a few anti-environment riders and did not include pro-environment policy provisions from H.R. 7608.


19. PROTECTING THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICEChair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) sponsored H.R. 8015, the Delivering for America Act, which would provide $25 billion in emergency appropriations, block operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service that threaten to politicize mail delivery, and treat election ballots as first class mail. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many voters were unable to safely cast their ballots in person, and instead relied on voting by mail. However, Postmaster DeJoy took partisan actions that ham-pered timely mail delivery. Efforts to undermine or delay mail-in voting threaten participation in our democracy. On August 22, the House approved H.R. 8015 by a vote of 257-150 (House roll call vote 182). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.

20. INCREASING FUNDING FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENTRepresentative Deb Haaland (D-NM) offered an amendment to H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, which would increase authorizations by 50 percent for renewable energy research and development programs at the Department of Energy, including significant funding authorization boosts for research, development, demonstration, and commercialization activities in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. This amendment would represent an important down payment on getting our country to 100 percent clean energy production and would help advance technologies to reduce the price of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and develop new solutions to generate, transmit, and use clean energy. The larger wide-ranging research and development package would help reduce carbon emissions in a variety of industries and sectors and boost job growth, particularly in communities where Black, Indigenous, and people of color are exposed to higher levels of toxic pollution. On September 24, the House ap-proved the Haaland amendment by a vote of 235-173 (House roll call vote 203). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. A smaller increase in authorizations for clean energy research & develop-ment programs was included in the year-end appropriations and bare-bones COVID-19 relief package (H.R. 133) signed into law by the president on December 27.

21. PHASING OUT HARMFUL FISHING GEARSenator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) sponsored S. 906, the Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Re-duction Act, which would transition the last U.S. fishery that uses large-scale driftnets away from this harmful fishing practice. This gear partly accounts for more dolphins and porpoises being killed in this fishery than all other observed fisheries combined along the West Coast and Alaska. The bill’s assistance program will help fishers convert to alternative gear that catches swordfish profitably with less waste. On December 10, the House approved a motion to suspend the rules and pass S. 906 by a vote of 283-105 (House roll call vote 242). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. With the Senate having passed S. 906 by voice vote on July 22, the bill was sent to the presi-dent’s desk following House passage, but the president vetoed the bill on January 1, 2021, and prevented it from becoming law.

HOUSE VOTESKEY%= Pro-environment action ✖ = Anti-environment actioni= Ineligible to vote ? = Not Voting (counts as negative) = Excused (does not count)

20

20

116

th C

on

gre

ss

Lif

eti

me

Clo

sin

g t

he

PFA

S C

lean

Wat

er

Lo

op

ho

le #

11

Pro

tect

ing

Peo

ple

fro

m P

FAS

P

ollu

tion

#13

Gre

at L

ake

s R

est

ora

tion

Initi

ativ

e #

36

Pro

tect

ing

th

e R

ight

s o

f Wo

rke

rs to

O

rgan

ize

#50

Em

erg

ency

and

Clim

ate

Dis

aste

r Aid

for

Pue

rto

Ric

o #

54

Pro

tect

ing

Wild

ern

ess

Acr

oss

th

e

We

st #

69

He

roe

s A

ct C

OV

ID R

elie

f Pac

kag

e #

109

LCV SCORES


ALABAMA

1 Byrne R 0 2 0 ✖ ✖ ✖ ? ? ? ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

scorecard...2021/01/05 · Earth Day. LCV believes our earth is worth fighting for because everyone...

Documents

Transcript of scorecard...2021/01/05 · Earth Day. LCV believes our earth is worth fighting for because everyone...