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Executive Summary

Overview

Environment America is a federation of state-based, citizen-funded environmental advocacy organizations.  Our presence in all 50 states and Washington D.C., hundreds of thousands of members,  state-level organizations in 26 state capitals, and  hundreds of professional staff , combine independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for the environment.   Environment America, the new home of U.S. PIRG’s environmental work, draws on 30 years of success in tackling environmental problems.

In 2007, the leaders of our state-based environmental organizations joined forces to form Environment America.  Together, in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country we’re building on the progress our advocates and activists have made at the state and local levels—from passing laws that promote energy efficiency and solar and wind power, to cutting the pollution that causes global warming, to winning new protections for countless acres of wild places and open spaces. With grassroots support and action across the nation, a team of professional researchers, advocates and issue experts, a spirit of cooperation, a willingness to take on whatever special interests might stand in the way of a clean and healthy environment and an orientation toward real results, Environment America is providing a powerful new force for progress on the environment in our country.

Environment America and our federation of state environmental groups produce this regular report on key votes in Congress as one of our many tools to help citizens engage in and make an impact on environmental policy.  The scorecard is distributed online to our entire membership and through our door-to-door canvass in cities and towns across the country.  It is being distributed to more than one million households.

The 2008 scorecard looks at the key environmental votes taken between March 2007 and February 2008.  Through our online tools citizens can research votes and basic information on their elected officials as well as look at past reports.  For more information visit: www.environmentamerica.org.

Introduction

For more than three decades, Americans have shown overwhelming support for clean air, clean water and protecting open space.  More recently, the American people have shown a strong desire to combat global warming and to create a new energy future that is based on increased efficiency and more reliance on clean renewable, homegrown energy sources.   Americans came together to advance these goals through a framework of federal laws such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.  In addition, and on a regular basis, we come together at the state level to provide critical leadership in setting the standards for how the environment should be protected with local examples that become models for federal action.

All too often, the American public has demonstrated a greater appetite for strong environmental protections than our elected officials have delivered.  Powerful interests frequently exert their resources and disproportionate influence to roll back or block key environmental protections.  For example, the auto industry successfully blocked increased miles per gallon standards for thirty years until citizen pressure and national security concerns led to a forty percent increase in the standards which was enacted in December 2007.  

The 2006 midterm elections provided new leaders in the Congress.  While that has resulted in some significant changes, there are unfortunately many storylines in Washington that have not changed.  Much of the agenda is still established by a President and administration that has great power over the policies that protect our environment.

An Assault on the Environment 

The assault on the environment from President Bush and his appointees continues unabated.  In the past 18 months the administration has been increasingly focused on weakening bedrock environmental protections and the environmental progress of the states. 

For example, in February 2008, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Steven Johnson, ignoring a unanimous recommendation of the EPA’s professional staff, denied California’s request for a waiver under the Clean Air Act to adopt greenhouse gas emission standards for cars.  This decision has blocked California and 13 other states that have adopted these standards from requiring automakers to cut global warming pollution from automobiles.  California and more than a dozen other states have filed suit against the EPA for failing to heed science and the law in denying California’s request. 

The Bush Administration has also attacked bedrock clean water and toxics laws. In June 2007, the Bush administration issued a second policy that eliminates longstanding Clean Water Act protections for many U.S. waterways, putting thousands of miles of streams and millions of acres of wetlands in danger of unlimited pollution and development.  The waters at risk from this policy are the source waters for America’s rivers, lakes and bays.  These waters filter pollution, sustain water supplies, control flood waters and provide habitat for fish and other wildlife.  

In December 2006, the Bush administration finalized a rule to rollback the Toxics Release Inventory program, the basic right-to-know program that provides the public with toxic pollution information every year.  Under the Bush administration changes, polluters can release ten times more toxic chemicals into the air, water and land before they would be required to report it and can withhold information on the most dangerous toxic chemicals.

Finally, the Bush Administration continues to try to repeal the rule that protects a third of our national forests from logging and road-building.  In 2007, the Bush administration filed an appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that allowed the 2001 Roadless Rule to stand as the law of the land.  If successful, the administration’s appeal would give industries, such as timber and mining, access to a third of the national forests.  The Roadless Rule protects the last wild national forests from most road building associated with industry activities.  Millions of Americans took part in the rule-making process for the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, more than any other federal rule-making in history, with more than 95 percent of them in favor of complete protection for all of these last wild national forests.

A Change in Direction

The new members and leadership of the 110th Congress have changed the direction of environmental policy in measurable ways.  The most notable change is in the shift from predominantly defensive votes in the previous Congress to more solution oriented votes in the current Congress.  Additionally, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of legislators who have voted 100% of the time for the environment (“Environmental Champions”) and fewer who have scored a zero on our scorecard (“Natural Disasters”). 

The 110th Congress did make significant progress on energy legislation, and debate on and passage of Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007 is reflected in a number of votes on the scorecard.  One of the highlights of the bill, which passed with overwhelming support in both the House and the Senate, is the first time in over thirty years that Congress has increased fuel economy standards.  In 2020 the bill will save 1.1 million barrels of oil per day and save consumers more than $22 billion at the pump. 

The House of Representatives also has made more significant progress than the Senate on a number of important proposals such as the passage of investment and production tax credits for energy efficiency and renewable energy paid for through the repeal of tax loopholes for oil and gas companies, and a renewable electricity standard that would require twenty percent of our electricity to be produced by clean and renewable sources of energy.  Both of these measures have faced veto threats from the President and have failed to garner the 60 votes necessary for passage in the Senate.

The Outlook from Here

This is a critical time for speeding the transition to the clean energy economy and protecting our natural environment.  From clean energy and efficiency tax credits to the Clean Water Restoration Act, Congress has important policy matters to address before it adjourns the 110th session.  We will continue our efforts to see that America gets the progress it needs and deserves.  As the Bush Administration wraps up what arguably has been the worst ever administration for the environment, we will be watchful against the ongoing efforts of the administrative to undermine key environmental protections and serve the powerful special interests that have maintained unprecedented levels of influence over public policy.  Increasingly the public and the states are stepping up to address and speak out for solutions to our environmental problems.  Both of the major presidential candidates are on record supporting action on global warming.  The transition to a clean energy economy is a major topic in countless Congressional campaigns.  Environment America will remain as vigilant as we are optimistic that we can take the steps necessary to preserve and protect the world we live in.