Partisan divide noted in 2014 Conservation Scorecard

From press release:

North Carolina League of Conservation Voters today released its 2014 Legislative Scorecard. Environmental voting scores in the N.C. General Assembly hit a disturbing new low in 2014, punctuated by one especially jarring number: zero. That was the average score earned by Senate Republicans on the key environmental bills and amendments prioritized by NCLCV during the 2014 Short Session.

Under the new legislative leadership which began in 2011, partisan polarization on environmental issues has reached an all-time low. The score gap between Republican and Democratic averages was 75 points in the House for the combined 2013-14 session, while it was 72 points in the Senate.  House Democrats averaged 81 percent on their environmental voting, while House Republicans averaged 6 percent. In the Senate, Democrats averaged 74 percent while Republicans averaged 2 percent.

The past two scorecard publications revealed record numbers of zero scores. Prior to 2012, only four zeroes had been earned. In 2013 alone, there were 44 zeros, and a startling 82 in 2013. The 2014 scorecard improves to just 70 zeroes this year. Though this may seem positive, over half the entire general assembly earned a score of 10% or less in both 2013 and 2014.  The Conservation Scorecard gives each state legislator a score of 0 to 100 based on his or her votes on key environmental bills in the recent session of the General Assembly. The Scorecard is a valuable tool voters can use to evaluate which legislators best represent their environmental values.

Included in this year’s publication is NCLCV’s midterm gubernatorial review. While the governor does not vote on specific legislation, his review is based on what bills he has signed into law, what he has spoken about in public, and other executive actions he has taken. Governor McCrory’s leadership during this session follows a first year of poor environmental stewardship. Under his reign, North Carolina experienced the third largest coal ash spill in history, fracking was signed into law, a controversial weak coal ash bill was allowed to pass, and numerous environmental and health protections were further rolled back.

“North Carolina has a history of making balanced decisions for the environment and economy, which has made it a great place to live, work, and raise a family. We have the potential to be this way again,” said Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations for NCLCV. “We need leaders who will speak out for the citizens of North Carolina instead of fostering the interests of big business and major polluters.”

NCLCV applauds the 12 legislators who went against the anti-regulatory rhetoric and earned a perfect score on this year’s scorecard. The average score in the House for the 2014 session was 36 percent, up from 3 percent in 2013; the Senate average was a mere 26%, down from 28% in 2013.

The complete Scorecard, as well as previous years, can be viewed online at: nclcv.org/scorecard.

North Carolina League of Conservation Voters is a pragmatic, nonpartisan, advocacy organization dedicated to protecting, preserving, and enhancing North Carolina’s natural environment. For over 45 years, NCLCV has been turning environmental values into North Carolina priorities by helping to elect pro-conservation candidates and holding them accountable for their decisions that affect the environment.