How NC’s National Elected Officials Voted on Environmental Issues
Last week, LCV released the National Environmental Scorecard for 2024, and it shows that both NC Senators and five members of the state’s House delegation scored rock-bottom 0%. On the bright side, three of the returning Democratic House members from NC received perfect 100% scores.
Here are the scores for each member of the North Carolina delegation for the 2024 session of Congress:
Senator Ted Budd – 0 percent
Senator Thom Tillis – 0 percent
Representative Don Davis – 64 percent
Representative Deborah Ross – 100 percent
Representative Greg Murphy – 0 percent
Representative Valerie Foushee – 100 percent
Representative Virginia Foxx – 0 percent
Representative Kathy Manning – 94 percent
Representative David Rouzer – 0 percent
Representative Dan Bishop – 0 percent
Representative Richard Hudson – 0 percent
Representative Patrick McHenry – 6 percent
Representative Chuck Edwards – 6 percent
Representative Alma Adams – 100 percent
Representative Wiley Nickel – 93 percent
Representative Jeff Jackson – 91 percent
This year, the 2024 Scorecard includes eight Senate votes, half of which were confirmations of qualified, diverse judges and other nominees and half were attacks on environmental protections. In the House, LCV scored 33 votes, 14 of which were poison pill policy amendments on government funding bills or the extreme underlying bills themselves, two of which were using or further weaponizing the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to block environmental safeguards, and the rest undermined programs and laws that advance a safe climate, environment, and democracy.
Federal Inaction Hits at Home
Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis, as well as Representatives Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx, David Rouzer, Dan Bishop, Richard Hudson, Patrick McHenry, and Chuck Edwards failed to stand up for NC’s values, voting to cut clean energy investments and an agenda that catered to Big Polluters and corporate interests.
“Despite the extremism and chaos in Congress today, we know Representatives Adams, Foushee, Ross, Manning, Nickel, and Jackson worked every day to protect our air and water,” said NCLCV’s Executive Director Carrie Clark. “Unfortunately, nine of NC’s national elected officials used their votes to cater to Big Polluters and right-wing extremists. Here at home, energy bills are rising, and many communities are still suffering from Hurricane Helene. North Carolinians must hold our leaders accountable for continually putting polluters over people. We will continue to work with our state’s environmental champions to fight rising energy prices and deliver meaningful action on addressing the climate crisis.”
Public News Service featured Dan Crawford, our Director of Governmental Relations, on these scores. “‘Some of these members continue to have their heads stuck in the sand and choose to ignore the problem instead of doing something about it,’ he said. ‘It’s penny-wise and pound-foolish to have to come in and keep rebuilding some of these areas that are being affected by climate.'”
How Can You Take Action?
First, check out LCV’s scorecard – available in English and Spanish – and read our full news release on NC delegation’s scores.
Second, share our social media posts on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Tiktok to help us build a greater awareness of who is standing up for our environment and who is not.
And finally, you can register for our 2025 Green Tie Awards where we will celebrate the leaders fighting for social and environmental justice here in North Carolina.
