Representatives of Color Receive Near-Perfect Score on Environmental Voting Record

By Yessenia Funes May 17, 2017

The League of Conservation Voters released its first-ever environmental scorecard yesterday (May 16), and it examined the voting records of congressional caucuses of color. The main finding? Representatives of color are leading the way in environmental protection.

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) received a near-perfect score of 98 percent. Next came the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) with 90 percent and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) trailing close behind at 89 percent. The Republican Congressional Hispanic Conference, however, earned a mere 10 percent. Its members include senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-ID), both of whom received scores of less than 10 percent.

The report gives scores based on the 55 votes which Congress members active in these caucuses made last year (17 votes took place in the Senate and 38 in the House). The issues voted on cover several issues, as the report describes:

The Scorecard tracks 55 votes on key issues with far-reaching implications for environmental justice and public health, including bills and amendments that would block protections for the drinking water for one-third of the people in our country, weaken lifesaving pollution safeguards for the air we breathe, and even eliminate programs working to prevent lead poisoning.

Though the League of Conservation Voters is nonpartisan, nearly all representatives in the report—outside of the Congressional Hispanic Conference—are Democrats. Many, including senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), received perfect scores.

Find the report in both English and Spanish here.