2013 NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SCORECARD FIRST SESSION OF THE 113TH CONGRESS LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS scorecard.lcv.org LCV Board Of directors * John H. Adams George T. Frampton, JR. Reuben Munger Natural Resources Defense Council Covington & Burling, LLP Vision Ridge Partners, LLC Paul Austin Wade Greene, Honorary Scott A. Nathan, CHAIR Conservation Minnesota & Conservation Rockefeller Family & Associates The Baupost Group, LLC Minnesota Voter Center Rampa R. Hormel Bill Roberts Brent Blackwelder, Honorary Enlyst Fund Corridor Partners, LLC Friends of the Earth John Hunting, Honorary Larry Rockefeller The Honorable Sherwood L. John Hunting & Associates American Conservation Association Boehlert, Vice Chair Tom Kiernan, Treasurer Theodore Roosevelt IV, The Accord Group American Wind Energy Association Honorary Chair The honorable carol browner Michael Kieschnick Barclays Capital Center for American Progress CREDO Mobile Laura Turner Seydel Marcia Bystryn, Secretary Peter Mandelstam Turner Foundation New York League of Conservation Voters Trip Van Noppen Pete Maysmith Brendon Cechovic Earthjustice Conservation Colorado Western Conservation Foundation Kathleen Welch WInsome mcintosh, honorary Carrie Clark Corridor Partners, LLC The McIntosh Foundation North Carolina League of Conservation Voters William H. Meadows III Manny Diaz The Wilderness Society Lydecker Diaz LCV IssuEs & Accountability Committee * Brent Blackwelder Ruth Hennig Trip Van Noppen Friends of the Earth The John Merck Fund Earthjustice The honorable carol browner Reuben Munger Wesley Warren Center for American Progress Vision Ridge Partners, LLC Natural Resources Defense Council Marcia Bystryn New York League of Conservation Voters LCV scorecard Advisory Committee * CAROL ANDRESS JESSICA FEINGOLD-LIEBERSON MELINDA PIERCE Environmental Defense Fund The Humane Society of the United States Sierra Club ANNA AURILIO EDIE GILLISS ALAN ROWSOME Environment America Washington Conservation Voters The Wilderness Society GEOFFREY BROWN MARTY HAYDEN JOSHUA SAKS The Pew Charitable Trusts Earthjustice National Wildlife Federation MARCIA BYSTRYN DAVID JENKINS BEN SCHREIBER New York League of Conservation Voters Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship Friends of the Earth ROBERT COWIN CRAIG LASHER KERRY SCHUMANN Union of Concerned Scientists Population Action International Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters ROBERT DEWEY ELISE RUSSELL LIGUORI CINDY SHOGAN Defenders of Wildlife National Parks Conservation Association Alaska Wilderness League MAUREEN DROUIN BRIAN MOORE SCOTT SLESINGER Maine League of Conservation Voters National Audubon Society Natural Resources Defense Council * Organizations are shown for identification purposes only he nonprofit League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has CONTENTS published a National Environmental Scorecard every Con- gress since 1970, the year it was founded by leaders of the 1. ANALYSIS environmental movement following the first Earth Day. TLCV works to turn environmental values into national priorities. Overview of the 1st This edition of the National Environmental Scorecard provides objec- Session of the 113th tive, factual information about the most important environmental legis- Congress 2 lation considered and the corresponding voting records of all members Voting Summary 4 of the first session of the 113th Congress. This Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from about 20 respected environmental and con- servation organizations who selected the key votes on which members of 2. SENATE SCORES Congress should be scored. LCV scores votes on the most important issues of the year, including energy, climate change, public health, public lands Vote Descriptions 8 and wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs. The Senate Votes 12 votes included in this Scorecard presented members of Congress with a real choice and help distinguish which legislators are working for environ- mental protection. Except in rare circumstances, the Scorecard excludes 3. HOUSE SCORES consensus action on the environment and issues on which no recorded Vote Descriptions 19 votes occurred. Dedicated environmentalists and national leaders volunteered their House Votes 28 time to identify and research crucial votes. We extend special thanks to our Board of Directors, Issues & Accountability Committee, and Score- card Advisory Committee for their valuable input. Cover photo of the federal government shutdown sign by David P. Fulmer. 20052013 OVERVIEW OVERVIEW There is a jarring disconnect between the frightening climate change developments of 2013 and the re- sults of the 2013 National Environmental Scorecard. As the scientific consensus around climate change and its impacts only solidified, climate change deniers ramped up their rhetoric, pushed harmful leg- islation that would exacerbate the climate crisis, and blocked all efforts to address it. Indeed, the first session of the 113th Congress is widely acknowledged to be one of the least productive and most dysfunctional in our nation’s history and will likely be best remembered for shutting down the govern- ment. In stark contrast to the congressional denial and dysfunction that ran rampant in 2013, President Obama made significant progress in addressing the climate crisis through executive action. This Scorecard comes on the heels of another record- For the third year in a row, there is an unusually high breaking year of global climate change impacts, ranking number of House votes included in the Scorecard, due to as one of the five hottest years ever recorded, replete with the breadth and depth of anti-environmental legislation perilous extreme weather, including stronger storms, more brought to the House floor in 2013. The 2013 Scorecard intense wildfires, and longer droughts. In the U.S. alone, includes 28 House votes, which is second only to the re- there were seven separate weather and climate disasters cord 35 votes included in both 2011 and 2012, the most in 2013 with price tags exceeding $1 billion. In May, the anti-environmental U.S. House of Representatives in his- planet hit an alarming milestone when the concentration tory. Many other votes warranted inclusion and would of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed 400 parts per have been included in a typical year. million, the highest level in human history. Just as they did in the 112th Congress, the House seem- Despite this reality, the U.S. House of Representatives ingly left no issue untouched during the first session of the continued its unprecedented assault on the environment 113th Congress. The attacks included efforts to: roll back and public health that began during the 112th Congress. cornerstone environmental laws like the Clean Air Act, Although Congress started 2013 with votes to provide di- the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Pol- saster relief in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, it’s painfully icy Act; legislatively approve the risky Keystone XL tar clear that far too many members failed to heed the les- sands pipeline and increase harmful drilling and fracking sons offered by that tragic storm. Indeed, this Scorecard across the country; decimate protections for our forests is a disturbing reflection of the extent to which the Re- and other public lands; continue subsidizing dirty fos- publican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives sil fuels while cutting funding for renewable energy and continues to be controlled by Tea Party climate change energy efficiency; and deny the costs of carbon pollution deniers with an insatiable appetite for attacks on the envi- despite the fact that they are already all too apparent. ronment and public health. The good news once again is the U.S. Senate and the Obama administration blocked the vast majority of 2 scorecard.lcv.org | 2013 National Environmental Scorecard · LCV House-passed attacks on the environment and public while the Dirty Dozen members had an average lifetime health. With bipartisan votes, the Senate rejected anti- score of just 12 percent. Another reason for optimism is 1. An environmental riders to prevent the Environmental Pro- that more and more members of Congress are speaking tection Agency from protecting public health by cutting out on the urgent need to address climate change. Many A lysis carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act and to gut the have joined congressional caucuses and task forces cre- Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. Also along biparti- ated specifically to tackle climate change, and they are san lines, the Senate confirmed Sally Jewel as Secretary speaking out – on the House and Senate floor, in the me- of the Department of the Interior and Gina McCarthy as dia, and in their districts and states. Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Building on the significant accomplishments of his first (although despite being highly qualified, McCarthy had term, President Obama also spoke out and led more pow- to answer a record 1100 written questions and wait more erfully than ever in 2013. After eloquent remarks on the than 100 days to be confirmed). urgent need to address climate change in both his inaugu- The fact that the Scorecard includes just 13 Senate ral speech and his State of the Union, President Obama votes is testament to the stalwart leadership of Senator laid out his commonsense and ambitious Climate Action Reid (D-NV), who successfully prevented many of the Plan on June 25. At the center of that plan are EPA rules House’s most egregious attacks from coming to the Sen- to cut carbon pollution