Correa rated worst on environmental issues, amongst State Senate Democrats

*Press Release*
February 10, 2011
Contact: Jenesse Miller, CLCV – 510.844.0235

California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) Releases 2010 California Environmental Scorecard

CLCV recognizes champions; asks others to step up their efforts to protect the environment

OAKLAND, Calif. (Feb. 10 2011) – The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) – the political arm of the environmental movement in California – announced the release of its annual California Environmental Scorecard today. The record of the year’s most important environmental votes reveals how Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and members of the state legislature performed on the environment in the 2010 legislative session.

“The story of the 2010 Scorecard is twofold; it’s about how the environmental community stopped multiple attacks on the environment and how we passed strong laws that protect our quality of life,” said Warner Chabot, CLCV Chief Executive Officer.

Emboldened by the tough economic climate, anti-environmental legislators introduced dozens of so-called “regulatory reform” bills in an attempt to weaken environmental protections. As a result, CLCV and its allies played defense more than offense. However, environmental advocates were able to deliver important proposed laws to Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk, including bills dealing with energy storage, recycling, water conservation, pesticides, clean energy jobs, and oil spill prevention.

CLCV is using the Scorecard results to call on legislators like Senator Lou Correa to improve their performance on environmental legislation in 2011. Senator Correa received a disappointing score of 30% in 2010 after voting “no” on priority environmental bills dealing with renewable energy, oil spill prevention, green jobs training, pesticides, commercial recycling, and a ban on plastic bags.
In addition to his terrible votes, Senator Correa authored SB 1010, which would have granted 125 major projects exemptions from the bedrock law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). If it had passed, the bill would have undermined the ability of communities to participate in important decisions about their own neighborhoods.

“The good news is that leaders in the environmental community and the legislature successfully defeated all of the bills that posed the most serious threats to the environment and public health. The bad news is we expect more of these attacks in 2011,” said Chabot. “CLCV calls on all legislators to lead the way in 2011 on improving water and air quality, increasing clean and renewable energy opportunities, protecting parks, limiting exposure to toxic chemicals, and resisting demands for rollbacks of environmental laws that protect California’s natural heritage and the public’s health.”

“The California Environmental Scorecard is an important tool for our members and other environmental voters, who help us deliver on our mission to hold elected officials accountable to their campaign promises to protect California’s families and natural heritage,” said Chabot. “With the introduction this year of a new interactive, online Scorecard, CLCV is making it even easier for voters to communicate with their elected officials about their environmental performance.”

2010 California Environmental Scorecard Highlights:

Governor 56% (leaves office with 53% average score)

Senate average 59%
Senate Democrats 91%
Senate Republicans 6%
Senators with 100% score 12
Highest Scoring Senate Republican: Blakeslee, 21%
Lowest Scoring Senate Democrat: Correa, 30%

Assembly average 64%
Assembly Democrats 94%
Assembly Republicans 7%
Assemblymembers with 100% score 30
Highest Scoring Assembly Republican: Fletcher, 19%
Lowest Scoring Assembly Democrat: Huber, 43%

Perfect 100%:
Senators: Alquist, Cedillo, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, A. Lowenthal, Pavley, Steinberg, Yee.
Assemblymembers: Ammiano, Bass, Beall, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, de Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Gatto, Hayashi, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Lowenthal, Monning, Nava, J. Pérez, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Swanson, Torlakson, Yamada.

About the California League of Conservation Voters
The political muscle of the environmental movement in America’s leading environmental state, the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) is the nation’s oldest grassroots environmental political action organization. CLCV uses sophisticated campaign tools to help elect pro-environment officials and to hold them accountable for passing legislation to protect health, communities and the environment. CLCV publishes the annual California Environmental Scorecard, which rates the actions of every state legislator and the governor on the state’s environmental priorities each legislative year. To learn lawmakers’ scores and read excerpts from the 2010 Scorecard, visit www.ecovote.org.
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Rebecca Saltzman
Online Organizer & Program Associate
California League of Conservation Voters
(510) 271-0900 x 341
http://ecovote.org/