The Georgia Conservation Voters released their annual scorecard grading our elected officials on how they voted when it came down to the environment. A preserved and clean Earth makes all the chichanery and favor-letting more possible, right guys?
From their press release (emphasis added, full version follows after the jump):
The latest scorecard shows the average score in the Senate dropped by two percent while the House average experienced a nine point increase. The Senate average was 64 percent in 2005-06, but it fell slightly to 62 percent in 2007-08. The House average rose from 54 percent in 2005-06 to 63 percent in 2007-08.
“We’re pleased with all the legislators who improved their scores over last year, but the General Assembly overall is still bringing home a scorecard that shows room for improvement,” said Georgia Conservation Voters Executive Director Chris Osborne. “Talking about the environment is not enough – measuring improvements and providing accountability for conservation-minded voters is a necessary task.”
This session, the conservation community made strides in expanding incentives for land conservation, obtaining funding to clean up dirty school buses, protecting part of Jekyll Island with easy beach access and defeating efforts to make it more difficult to remove billboards. However, efforts to create a funding mechanism for all forms of transportation, including rail transit options, and statutory criteria to protect communities from unnecessary water transfers failed during the last hours of the 2007-08 legislative session.
“We’re pleased to see a greater awareness of how environmental issues from water to transportation to energy affect the lives of Georgians every day. But there is still need for more leadership from the General Assembly if we are to tackle challenges before they turn into a crisis,” said Mr. Osborne.
Freshmen lawmakers scored better than the veterans, Democrats scored better than Republicans, and a round of applause should go out to Sens. Vincent Fort and Bill Jackson and Reps. Roberta Abdul-Salaam, Stephanie Benfield, Doug McKillip, Robert Mumford and Mary Margaret Oliver. They all scored 100 percent.
The rundown can be viewed on the organization’s website here.
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