Oakland, CA– Today, California Environmental Voters (EnviroVoters) released the California delegation’s scores for the League of Conservation Voters’ 2023 National Environmental Scorecard highlighting our state’s leaders’ work to protect our environment and democracy despite months of legislative attacks and partisan chaos. Since 1970, LCV’s Scorecard has been the primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of members of Congress. It is available for download in English here, in Spanish here, and online in both languages at scorecard.lcv.org.
The 2023 Scorecard shows how our state’s delegation fought back against attacks on our democracy and environmental protections unleashed by a Republican-led House. In the House alone, there were hundreds of dangerous votes to cater to major polluters.
This was a dramatic change from 2022, when climate champions led both the House and Senate, passing the most significant climate and clean energy investments in American history. This year, many in our state’s delegation led efforts to help local communities lower costs, protect the most vulnerable, and tackle the climate crisis. Unfortunately, constant gridlock and chaos led to one of the least productive Congresses ever.
“Californians should be proud to have leaders who stand up against big polluters and attacks on our environment,” said Veda Banerjee, Communications Director, EnviroVoters. “This Scorecard shows that our climate champions are working everyday to protect our future despite the gridlock and chaos in Congress today. We need our climate champions to hold the line while we implement and invest federal dollars as quickly and equitably as possible.”
“The last Congress showed that transformational change that works for both our communities and our planet is possible when our elected leaders come together to pass meaningful legislation that will tackle the climate crisis and environmental injustice,” said LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “We appreciate our allies in the House who consistently opposed these attacks and, thanks to champions in the Senate and the President’s steadfast leadership, these attempts to undermine the historic affordable clean energy plan were unsuccessful.”
For the second year, the 2023 Scorecard highlights the leadership of the Tri-Caucus, including the history-making election of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the first member of the Tri-Caucus elected to lead either chamber. Leadership of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) scored an average of 99% on the 2023 Scorecard. These champions in Congress led and supported many of the forward-looking climate, conservation, environmental justice, and equitable democracy bills and initiatives in 2023, in addition to helping to educate constituents and connect communities to the transformational investments within the affordable clean energy plan.
The devastating wildfires, extreme storms and temperatures, and catastrophic floods that continue to affect our communities this year required an all-of-government approach that [the Biden-Harris administration and Congress in 2022 helped deliver, despite relentless attempts by the fossil fuel industry and other entrenched interests to put their profits over California.
The 2023 Scorecard includes a near record-high 36 votes in the House, over a dozen of which were messaging amendments offered on major funding bills that already had no path to enactment. The Senate in contrast approved four bipartisan appropriations bills and 69 lifetime federal judges with exceptional environmental records.
The California delegation’s scores include the following highlights:
- Senator Butler – 100%
- Senator Feinstein – 88%
- Senator Padilla – 88%
- Representative Kevin McCarthy – 3%
- Representative Barbara Lee – 100%
- Representative Nancy Pelosi – 97%
- Representative Katie Porter – 97%
- Representative Adam Schiff – 100%
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CONTACT:
Erika Guzman Cornejo
310-755-1615
erika@envirovoters.org
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ABOUT CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL VOTERS
California Environmental Voters (formerly the California League of Conservation Voters) believes the climate crisis is here and this moment requires transformative change. California has the policy solutions to stop climate change but lacks the political will to do it at the rate and scale that’s necessary. EnviroVoters exists to build the political power to solve the climate crisis, advance justice, and create a roadmap for global action. We organize voters, elect and train candidates, and hold lawmakers accountable for bold policy change. We won’t stop until we have resilient, healthy, thriving communities, and a democracy and economy that is just and sustainable for all. Join us at www.envirovoters.org and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. See more press releases.
