PHILADELPHIA, PA – Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania and the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) today unveiled the scores of the Pennsylvania delegation in LCV’s new 2016 National Environmental Scorecard. The Scorecard includes 17 Senate votes and 38 House votes. 38 votes sets a new record as the most votes ever scored in the House, reflecting the fact that, under Speaker Paul Ryan, the current U.S. House remains the most anti-environmental in history. This is in direct contrast to President Obama who led the way on combating climate change and protecting our environment. The Scorecard is available in both English and Spanish at scorecard.lcv.org.
“Once again, too many Pennsylvania Congressmen voted to undermine the cornerstone environmental laws that protect our air, water, wildlife and public lands,” said Conservation Voters of PA’s Executive Director Josh McNeil. “Despite last year being the hottest year on record, members like Senator Pat Toomey put corporate profits ahead of the health of Pennsylvanians, environmental protections, and climate action every chance he got. Fortunately, environmental champions like Senator Bob Casey consistently stood up to these radical attacks.”
The 2016 Scorecard scores votes cast during the second session of the 114th Congress. The average House Republican score for 2016 was five percent, while the average House Democrat score was 94 percent.
The good news is that the number of environmental champions in Congress continues to grow, and they are becoming more vocal and effective than ever before. Environmental allies, including Senator Casey and Reps. Robert Brady, Brendan Boyle, Matt Cartwright, Mike Doyle, and Dwight Evans, stood up for our clean air and water, public lands, climate science, wildlife, and more. They fought for the health of our families and worked to stop the seemingly endless parade of attacks on our environmental protections from the Republican-led Congress.
The 2016 Scorecard is being released at a time when attacks on the environment are already coming fast and furious from polluter allies in both the Trump administration and Congress. While the attacks contained in the 2016 Scorecard were largely prevented from becoming law thanks to opposition in the Senate and the President’s veto pen, those attacks serve as a preview of what’s at stake now that polluters have an ally in the White House who can be expected to sign these anti-environmental pieces of legislation should they reach his desk. Indeed, both houses of Congress have already passed and President Trump signed a resolution eliminating the Stream Protection Rule using the radical Congressional Review Act (CRA) legislative tool, and the House has passed a similar measure voiding the Bureau of Land Management’s Methane and Waste Reduction Rule—both of which are the subject of votes in the 2016 Scorecard.
In Pennsylvania, Senator Casey earned a stellar 100 percent, while Senator Toomey voted zero percent of the time in support of our natural resources. Twenty-eight percent of House members earned a score of 80 percent or greater on the 2016 Scorecard, while 50 percent of House members earned an abysmal score of 10 percent or less. Fortunately, several Republican lawmakers, including Pennsylvania Representatives. Ryan Costello and Patrick Meehan, significantly improved their scores this year.
“2016 saw a relentless assault on both bedrock environmental protections and recent progress even as we experienced the hottest year on record – for the third year in a row – and world leaders came together on Earth Day to sign the historic climate agreement reached in Paris,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “Fortunately, President Obama and our allies in Congress beat back the vast majority of these attacks and stood up for the health of our families, communities of color on the frontlines of climate change, and the international consensus to take action on climate.”
Pennsylvania’s Congressional Delegation Scores:
Senator Bob Casey (D) – 100
Senator Pat Toomey (R) – 0
Rep. Robert Brady (D-1) – 97
Dwight Evans (D-2) – 100
Mike Kelly (R-3) – 0
Scott Perry (R-4) – 0
Glenn Thompson (R-5) – 3
Ryan Costello (R-6) – 39
Patrick Meehan (R-7) – 29
Michael Fitzpatrick (R-8) – 47
Bill Shuster (R-9) – 3
Tom Marino (R-10) – 5
Lou Barletta (R-11) -3
Keith Rothfus (R-12) – 0
Brendan Boyle (D-13) – 100
Mike Doyle (D-14) – 100
Charlie Dent (R-16) – 18
Joe Pitts (R-16) – 0
Matt Cartwright (D-17) – 100
Tim Murphy (R-18) – 3
For over 40 years, the National Environmental Scorecard issued by LCV has been the nationally accepted yardstick used to rate members of Congress on environmental, public health, and energy issues. For more information, visit http://scorecard.lcv.org/.