CHICAGO — The Illinois Environmental Council, the state affiliate of the League of Conservation Voters, today announced the Illinois delegation’s scores on the League of Conservation Voters’ 2019 National Environmental Scorecard. The Scorecard is the primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of every member of Congress, and is available for download here, in Spanish here, and online at scorecard.lcv.org.
“As the Trump administration continues to roll back environmental protections and actively put our health at risk, Senators Durbin and Duckworth, as well as Representatives Rush, Kelly, Lipinski, Garcia, Quigley, Casten, Danny Davis, Krishnamoorthi, Schakowsky, Schneider, Foster, Underwood and Bustos, stood up for Illinois’s air, water, land and wildlife,” said IEC’s Executive Director Jennifer Walling. “We are proud to have representatives in Congress who fight for Illinois’s communities. And in Illinois, we will continue to build our clean energy future by fighting to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act this session.”
The 2019 Scorecard measures votes cast during the first session of the 116th Congress. In Illinois, 13 House members and both Senators earned a score of 95 percent or greater. The average House score for Illinois was 73 percent and the average Senate score was 100 percent. The full delegation’s scores for 2019 are:
Senator Durbin – 100 percent
Senator Duckworth – 100 percent
Representative Rush – 97 percent
Representative Kelly, R. – 97 percent
Representative Lipinski – 97 percent
Representative Garcia – 100 percent
Representative Quigley – 97 percent
Representative Casten – 97 percent
Representative Davis, D. – 97 percent
Representative Krishnamoorthi – 97
Representative Schakowsky – 97 percent
Representative Schneider – 97 percent
Representative Foster – 97 percent
Representative Bost – 10 percent
Representative Davis, R. – 17 percent
Representative Underwood – 97 percent
Representative Shimkus – 10 percent
Representative Kinzinger – 14 percent
Representative Bustos – 97 percent
Representative LaHood – 7 percentpercent
“We are grateful to Speaker Pelosi and her pro-environment majority for prioritizing climate action and protections of our air, water, lands, wildlife, and democracy,” said LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “While pro-environment leaders supported policies that will protect communities across the country, especially low-income communities and communities of color, from the negative impacts of climate change-fueled extreme heat, natural disasters, and toxic pollution last year, Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s refusal to act on hundreds of important House-passed bills put the health of our children and families at risk for the benefit of his corporate polluter friends.”
The 2019 Scorecard includes 29 House votes on climate related bills, protections for our air, water, lands, and wildlife, and pro-democracy legislation. In the Senate, for the third year in a row, the majority of the 14 scored votes are confirmation votes on Trump’s anti-environmental nominees.
LCV has published a National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970. The Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from about 20 respected environmental and conservation organizations who selected the key votes on which members of Congress should be scored. LCV scores votes on the most important issues of the year, including energy, climate change, public health, public lands and wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs. The votes included in the Scorecard presented members of Congress with a real choice and help distinguish which legislators are working for environmental protection. More information on individual votes and the Scorecard archive can be found at scorecard.lcv.org.
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