Take Action! Did your representatives vote to protect the environment?

2011 Scores are coming out soon! Stay tuned.

The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) – the political arm of the California environmental movement – has released its 37th annual California Environmental Scorecard. The record of the year’s most important environmental votes reveals how the governor and members of the state legislature performed on the environment in the 2010 legislative session.

How did your legislator perform on the environmental community’s priority bills to protect the environment and public health? Learn your legislators’ scores and then let them know what you think!

Emboldened by the tough economic climate, anti-environmental legislators introduced dozens of so-called “regulatory reform” bills in 2010 in an attempt to weaken environmental protections. As a result, CLCV and its allies in the environmental community and the legislature played defense more than offense. The good news is that, with the help of environmental champions in the state Senate and Assembly, CLCV and our allies successfully defeated the bills that posed the most serious threats to the environment and public health. At the same time, environmental advocates were able to deliver several important proposed laws to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk, including bills dealing with energy storage, recycling, water conservation, pesticides, clean energy jobs, and oil spill prevention.

The story of the 2010 Scorecard is as much about how the environmental community stopped multiple attacks on the environment as it is about how we passed strong laws that protect our quality of life. But the story doesn’t end there, because we expect more attacks this year that falsely claim we need to sacrifice the environment in order to improve the economy.

Tell your representatives that you want them to lead the way in 2011 on improving water quality, increasing clean and renewable energy opportunities, protecting parks, limiting exposure to toxic chemicals, and resisting demands for rollbacks of environmental laws that protect California’s natural heritage and the public’s health. Let them know the Golden State can have a clean environment and a strong economy.