League of Conservation Voters Releases Environmental Scorecard for North Carolina’s Delegation

RALEIGH, N.C.— Today, the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters released the state delegation’s scores on the League of Conservation Voters’ 2022 National Environmental Scorecard highlighting how some members chose to champion the environment and protect our democracy, while others failed to do so. The Scorecard is the primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of members of Congress since 1970, and is available for download here, in Spanish here, and online at scorecard.lcv.org.
  
2022 was the best year ever for climate action in Congress with the passage of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act that invests roughly $369 billion in advancing clean energy, creating good jobs, and fighting climate change and environmental injustice. This clean energy plan was finalized against a backdrop of devastating and costly climate-fueled extreme weather and oil and gas companies’ exploitation of Putin’s unlawful war on Ukraine. Every Democrat in our state’s delegation came together to make the country’s first transformational climate law a reality. Unfortunately, not a single Republican voted for this popular, affordable clean energy plan. 

In stark contrast to previous sessions, 2022 was an exceptionally productive year for Congress. With the pro-environment-led House and Senate, Congress showed up and seized the opportunity to pass historic climate and clean energy policy. Yet some in North Carolina’s delegation ignored their own constituents, voting against new clean energy jobs, protecting our coastline, and voting rights protections.

“We are proud to have representatives that will fight for our future,” said NCLCV Executive Director Carrie Clark. “Representatives Alma Adams, Kathy Manning, and Deborah Ross have stood up for North Carolinians’ health, environment, and democracy again and again. But Senator Tillis, and Representatives Bishop, (now senator) Budd, Foxx, Hudson, McHenry, Murphy, and Rouzer continue to side with corporate polluters over the people of North Carolina’s health and environment and refuse to protect our right to vote at a critical moment for the country. We know the work is still not done. The future of our planet and our democracy are at stake. We were also fortunate to have had leaders like G.K. Butterfield and David Price representing North Carolina’s people and climate for so many years. On the other hand, Richard Burr and Madison Cawthorn’s universal support for corporate polluters over people won’t be missed.” 

Senator Richard Burr was replaced by Ted Budd. Sadly, Budd’s record is even worse on environmental and democracy issues than Burr was. 

“What a year of historic progress! In 2022, pro-environment majorities in the House and Senate showed the world what’s possible when leaders are committed to delivering the action on climate, clean energy, jobs and justice voters demand,” said LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “In a year that saw more suffering from the climate crisis and more pain at the pump as oil and gas companies raised energy costs, environmental champions in Congress took transformative climate action to begin to insulate the U.S. from volatile fossil fuel prices and build an affordable clean energy future. This year, we are all in to support the swift, effective, and equitable implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, work with North Carolina’s champions in Congress to continue to fight for popular action on climate and environmental justice and block attempts to roll back environmental safeguards, and support the Biden-Harris administration’s finalization of critical health and climate protections across the agencies.”

The 2022 Scorecard includes dozens of votes on other impactful climate and environmental bills, as well as a number of votes in both chambers on legislation that would strengthen democracy, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the DISCLOSE Act. To safeguard equity, LCV’s 2022 Scorecard included votes in both chambers to protect same-sex and interracial marriages as well as reproductive rights. 

The extreme storms and temperatures that continue to affect our communities this year required an all-of-government approach that Congress helped deliver, despite relentless attempts by the fossil fuel industry and other entrenched interests to put their profits over North Carolina.

The 2022 Scorecard includes 23 votes in the Senate and 19 votes in the House, with the vote on the IRA counting twice in both chambers.

The full North Carolina delegation’s scores are:

MEMBER	2022 (%)
Sen. Richard Burr	9
Sen. Thom Tillis	9
Rep. Alma Adams	100
Rep. Dan Bishop	0
Rep. Ted Budd	5
Rep. G.K. Butterfield	95
Rep. Madison Cawthorn	0
Rep. Virginia Foxx	5
Rep. Richard Hudson	5
Rep. Kathy Manning	95
Rep. Patrick McHenry	5
Rep. Greg Murphy	5
Rep. David Price	95
Rep. Deborah Ross	95
Rep. David Rouzer	5

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 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, with an intentional focus on systematically excluded communities of color. 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.