Today CLCV released its annual California Environmental Scorecard, just days before the November 2012 General Election. The record of the votes (available at www.ecovote.org/scorecard/) reveals how members of the state legislature and Governor Jerry Brown performed on the most important environmental and public health bills in the 2012 legislative session.
The Scorecard demonstrates why we need to elect environmental champions in 2012 who will reject the false arguments of special interests like Big Oil and cast their votes to protect our air, water, wild spaces, and quality of life, and allows voters to make a clear distinction between lawmakers who consistently earn outstanding scores and those who fail to reflect the pro-environmental values of their constituents.
One of the most striking contrasts in environmental and public health performance on the Scorecard is between two candidates running for U.S. Congress in Ventura County’s 26th district. Assemblywoman Julia Brownley earned 100% for her leadership on and support for environmental legislation, while her opponent, State Senator Tony Strickland, received an abysmal 0% by voting against bills to protect California’s coast, drinking water, wildlife, and clean energy leadership. CLCV has endorsed Brownley for Congress.
Next Tuesday, California voters will have the opportunity to elect environmental leaders at the local level and to the Assembly, state Senate, U.S. Congress and the White House. Tools like the Scorecard help voters judge candidates on their records and decide if those asking for their votes have earned them.
California Legislators Earning a Perfect 100% Score:
Senators: Ellen Corbett, Noreen Evans, Loni Hancock, Mark Leno, Lois Wolk.
Assemblymembers: Toni Atkins, Jim Beall, Bob Blumenfield, Julia Brownley, Betsy Butler, Mike Feuer, Gerald Hill, Jared Huffman, Bonnie Lowenthal, Bill Monning, Nancy Skinner.
(To see CLCV’s 2012 endorsements visit http://www.ecovote.org/page/endorsements.)
Lawmakers were scored on both the “good bills” and “bad bills” that were priorities for the state’s environmental community, as well as on “good government” bills that improve voters’ ability to participate in clean and fair elections. In addition to advocating for proposals to reduce plastic pollution, increase use of renewable energy, stop closures of state parks, and make sure cap-and-trade revenue will be used to further reduce greenhouse gases and will be distributed fairly, CLCV and its partners in the “Green California” coalition of environmental groups defeated the majority of bad bills that would have undermined bedrock laws like the California Environmental Quality Act.
CLCV helped several good environmental bills make it through the legislature and onto Governor Jerry Brown’s desk. The governor signed into law bills that fund and keep open our state parks, provide our most disadvantaged communities with resources to meet the challenges of climate change, enhance the ability of the Department of Fish and Game to protect California wildlife, and make clean drinking water a human right for all Californians, among others.
Unfortunately, bills that would have improved public disclosure of the risky process known as fracking and bills to decrease pollution from plastic bags and take-out food containers never made it to the governor’s desk. CLCV is committed to making progress on those environmental and public health and safety issues in the upcoming legislative session.
For forty years, the CLCV Environmental Scorecard has helped California voters decide if their elected representatives represent their values on critical issues like clean water, clean air, and protecting communities from toxic chemicals and pollution. CLCV works year-round to elect California candidates with both strong environmental records and a strong understanding of the importance of defending the environment; we then hold lawmakers accountable for their votes on environmental legislation.
This year’s Scorecard, released just days before a critical election for California and the nation, sends this message to voters: Vote for proven environmental champions who earned high scores, and vote for up-and-coming pro-environmental candidates who have earned CLCV’s endorsement and who we expect will earn high scores on next year’s Environmental Scorecard.
2012 California Environmental Scorecard Highlights:
Governor Jerry Brown: 75%
Senate average: 52%
Senate Democrats: 82%
Senate Republicans: 3%
Senators with 100% score: 5
Assembly average: 58%
Assembly Democrats: 84%
Assembly Republicans: 7%
Assembly Independent (Fletcher): 86%
Assemblymembers with 100% score: 11
