AUGUSTA — The League of Conservation Voters on Wednesday released its annual scorecard for Congress, giving Maine’s U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent, and 1st District U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, perfect scores of 100.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, received a 60, while 2nd District Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, received a score of 9.
The league praised President Barack Obama for leading the way in 2015 on climate change and environmental protection.
The 2015 scorecard includes votes cast during the first session of the 114th Congress. A score of 100 means the senator or representative voted 100 percent of the time for legislation that the league supported.
According to a release from Maine Conservation Voters, which has about 6,500 members statewide, the scorecard includes the most votes ever scored and reveals the most anti-environmental Congress in the league’s history.
“Once again, too many members of Congress were complicit in extreme attacks on both bedrock environmental laws and more recent progress to protect our air, water, public lands and wildlife,” Maine Conservation Voters Executive Director Maureen Drouin said in a prepared statement.
“Despite last year being the hottest year on record, members like Maine’s own Congressman Bruce Poliquin put the agenda of polluters ahead of the health of Maine people. Fortunately, environmental allies like Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Angus King, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree consistently stood up to these radical attacks,” Drouin said.
According to the release, King and Pingree stood out as “environmental champions” by earning perfect scores, while Poliquin earned an “abysmal score of 9 percent.”
Collins, at 60 percent, earned the highest score of any Republican senator, according to the release, which said the score shows “her willingness to challenge her party’s leadership and vote independently when the health of Maine people and our environment are at stake.”
“The 2015 Scorecard shows that the radical leadership in the House and Senate wasted no time pursuing big polluters’ agenda last year, and their environmental assault is well underway in 2016,” League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski said in the prepared statement.
He added, “Fortunately, we have a growing force of environmental allies, including the president, as well as many in Congress, who are working tirelessly to combat climate change, transition to a clean energy economy and safeguard our air, water, lands and wildlife.”
Poliquin said in a prepared statement released Wednesday, “As a proud member of the House Land Conservation Caucus, I appreciate the LCV’s work in bringing attention to issues facing Maine’s environment, but I can’t agree with this special interest group’s so-called “scorecard” rating.
“Firstly, it is important to note that the House and the Senate have taken different votes on different issues, and a uniform rating for members of the two chambers is misleading,” he wrote. “Secondly, the scoring penalized my votes to protect Maine’s forestry industry and to save critical jobs in our District.
“Thirdly, I have proudly stood up to support and vote on numerous policies to protect Maine’s environment, including pushing for the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, voting in a landmark victory to make the Conservation Easement Tax Credits permanent, and fighting to prevent a federal government shutdown — which would have led to Acadia National Park’s temporary closing,” Poliquin wrote.
Attempts to reach Collins for comment Wednesday were not immediately successful.
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