NCLCV Announces Delegation Scores from LCV’s 2020 Environmental Scorecard

Tillis, Burr, most of House delegation continue sub-10% lifetime scores

RALEIGH, N.C.— Today, the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) released the state delegation’s scores on the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) 2020 National Environmental Scorecard. The Scorecard is the primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of every member of Congress. You can download the full scorecard in English here (PDF) and in Spanish here (PDF), dig deeper into the North Carolina delegation’s scores here, or see the full interactive national scorecard at scorecard.lcv.org.

“President Biden has wasted no time putting climate and environmental justice at the top of his agenda, but Senators Burr and Tillis and most of our House delegation refuse to stand up for North Carolinians’ rights to clean air, clean water, and clean energy,” said NCLCV Executive Director Carrie Clark. “Thankfully, we can count on Representatives Adams, Butterfield, and Price, who have fought for North Carolinians’ future. There has never been a more important time for our delegation to work together to tackle climate, advance clean energy, and protect us from GenX, coal ash, and hog waste contamination. We look forward to assessing new Representatives Ross, Manning, and Cawthorn’s first terms next year.”

The 2020 Scorecard measures votes cast during the second session of the 116th Congress. In North Carolina, only three members of the delegation earned a score of even 18 percent or greater, while seven House members earned an abysmal score of 10 percent or less. The average House score for the delegation was 30 percent, skewed heavily by the perfect or near-perfect scores of the three Democrats. Aside from those three, the highest lifetime score is 11 percent, from a first-term member. The rest have scored 9 percent or lower, with nine of them at 5% or less. The full delegation’s 2020 and lifetime scores are:

In the House, there were two bills to regulate PFAS pollution like the GenX contamination that has plagued our state for decades. The only representatives to vote for both were Adams, Butterfield, and Price. Holding and Hudson voted for one of them. The Great American Outdoors Act renewing the Land and Water Conservation Fund enjoyed bipartisan support in both chambers. But like so much else in politics these days, almost everything else was along party lines, including funding for the EPA, clean energy, and the Postal Service during the pandemic and 2020 election.

“During an incredibly difficult and unprecedented year, and with the most anti-environmental president ever, pro-environment members of the 116th Congress paved the way for transformational action on climate and environmental justice,” said LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld.“Now the pro-environment trifecta — led by President Biden and Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader Schumer — is poised to enact transformational progress that results in healthy, equitable, safe communities powered by clean energy.”

The 2020 Scorecard includes 21 House votes that advanced pro-environmental and pro-democracy bills, provisions, and government funding. In the Senate, for the fourth year in a row, the majority of the 13 scored votes were extreme and partisan nominations both to the federal bench and the Trump administration. For the first time, the 2020 National Environmental Scorecard includes votes on removing public monuments to racism and policing and criminal justice reform. The same damaging system — racism — is at the root of climate injustice, environmental injustice, and police brutality. The 2020 Scorecard therefore includes votes that reflect LCV’s belief that these struggles are intertwined and must be addressed together.

LCV has published a National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970. The Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from more than 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, environmental justice, public health, public lands and wildlife conservation, democracy, 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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The North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) is a pragmatic, results-oriented, nonpartisan advocacy organization whose mission is to protect the health and quality of life for all North Carolinians. We elect environmental champions, advocate for environmental policies that protect our communities, and hold elected leaders accountable for their decisions. We have worked for over 50 years to create the political environment that will protect our natural environment.