Score 100 for Carnahan and Clay, zero for Bunt and Akin
American staff
The Missouri delegation in the U.S. Congress has the best – and the worst – legislators when it comes to the environment, according to the national League of Conservation Voters, which released its 2009 National Environmental Scorecard last week.
The scorecard tabulates how all members of Congress voted last year (in the first session of the 111th Congress) on some dozen pieces of legislation identified as important by national environmental groups.
The 2009 Scorecard includes 11 Senate and 13 House votes dominated by clean energy and climate but also encompassing other environmental issues such as public lands, water and wildlife conservation.
Missouri – and, indeed, St. Louis – can claim two members of Congress with perfect, 100 percent voting records on these issues last year: U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay and U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, both Democrats.
On the other end of the spectrum – at the far opposite of “green” – two members of Congress scored zero on the scorecard, voting against the environmentalists’ stance on all 13 issues: U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt and U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, both Republicans.
Missouri’s two senators scored a perfect 100 percent – but only if you combined their scores. Democrat U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill scored 91 percent, while Republican U.S. Senator Kit Bond scored 18 percent.
Scores for the other members of Congress also divided mostly along partisan lines, with other Democrats – U.S. Rep Emmanuel Cleaver (93 percent) and U.S. Rep Ike Skelton (93 percent) – scoring high, and other Republicans – U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (14 percent) and U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (7 percent) – scoring low.
“We applaud those members of the Missouri delegation who fought in 2009 to bring nearly 36,000 clean energy jobs to the state and reduce our national dependence on foreign oil,” said Missouri Votes Conservation Executive Director Liz Forrestal.
“Congressmen Clay, Carnahan, Cleaver and Skelton all voted for the American Clean Energy and Security Act.”
Missouri Votes Conservation is a non-partisan statewide organization affiliated with the League of Conservation Voters that advocates for pro-environment legislation and political candidates in Missouri.
On the other hand, Forrestal said, “The 2009 Scorecard clearly exposes Representatives Blunt, Luetkemeyer, Emerson, Akin and Graves for their willingness to put corporate polluters and other special interests ahead of a cleaner, more secure energy future for Missouri.”
The voting records of members of Congress are especially important in an election cycle when there is competition for a major open seat. Bond is not running for Senate again, and Blunt – who scored zero on the environmental scorecard – is the best-known Republican to file for his seat.
The Republican nominee likely will face Robin Carnahan on the Democratic ticket. She currently is the Missouri Secretary of State.
Congressman Russ Carnahan – who scored a perfect 100 percent ¬on the environmental scorecard – likely will face Ed Martin on the Republican ticket.
Martin, who is aligning himself with the far-right “Tea Party” faction, served as chief of staff for Gov. Matt Blunt, the son of Congressman Blunt.
Also, Emerson – who scored only 14 percent – faces a spirited run from Tommy Sowers, a Democrat.
The full 2009 National Environmental Scorecard can be found at www.lcv.org/scorecard.