FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 5th,
2012
Contact: Mike Berkowitz, (248) 345-9808, mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org
Michigan Sierra Club Releases Legislative
Scorecard for State Legislators
All but four Republicans scored zero percent, most
Democrats scored above 75 percent
LANSING - The Sierra Club
Michigan Chapter today released its 2011-2012 Legislative Scorecard, which
tracks legislators environmental voting records, for the Michigan House of
Representatives. While the scorecard generally showed Democrats voting to
maintain and/or strengthen environmental protections, more disturbingly it
showed Republicans generally vote to weaken or eliminate environmental
protections.
“It’s extremely frustrating
that the environment has become a partisan political issue,” said Mike Berkowitz, the Michigan chapter organizer
for the Sierra Club. “Of the 62
Republican State Representatives, 58 scored zero percent. If that statistic
doesn’t scare you, it should. The Republican House leadership has completely
failed at protecting clean air and clean water for Michigan citizens.”
The Sierra Club’s scorecard
calculated the results based upon eight roll call votes in the House for the
2011-2012 legislative session. According to the Scorecard, House Democrats
scored an average of 78 percent, while House Republicans scored an average of one
percent. Six lawmakers scored a perfect 100 percent. A full list of “Environmental
Champions” (100 percent), “Environmental Stewards” (80 to 99 percent), and “Pollution
Promoters” (zero to 25 percent) is included at the end of this release. The
only Republican who crossed over to vote with Democrats on more than one bill
on the scorecard was Rep. Matt Lori (R-Constantine.) Nine Democrats scored less
than a 65 percent, two of whom scored as low as 38 percent. The full scorecard is available here.
“We focused on votes that our
members and our Legislative Committee voiced major opinions about,” said Lydia Fischer, chair of the Legislative
Committee for the Michigan Sierra Club. “Overall, votes were selected that
clearly showcased the true environmental intent of the legislators.”
Aside from the partisan
nature of the voting, the number of anti-environment bills that were advanced
also increased. “Almost every single environmental bill considered over the
last year was an attack on Michigan’s environmental protections,” Berkowitz
continued. “Pro-environment bills that we lobbied for – such as bills to protect
Michigan residents from the dangers of fracking – never even received public
hearings in committee.”
“Why does our legislature
have the wrong priorities when it comes to protecting Michigan’s environment?”
asked James D’Amour, a Sierra Club
member once active in the Republican Party. “Clean air and clean water
should not be partisan issues. We were the best progressive leaders in making
conservation a top priority. This so-called ‘new’ GOP is disappointing and
disheartening for Republicans like me who care about the environment.”
###
The Sierra Club is the nation’s largest grassroots
environmental organization, with over 170,000 members and supporters in
Michigan.
2011-2012 Environmental Champions (100% score)
District
|
Name
|
Party
|
5
|
John Olumba
|
D
|
9
|
Shanelle Jackson
|
D
|
11
|
David E. Nathan
|
D
|
25
|
Jon M. Switalski
|
D
|
27
|
Ellen Cogen Lipton
|
D
|
53
|
Jeff Irwin
|
D
|
2011-2012 Environmental Stewards (80-99% score)
District
|
Name
|
Party
|
1
|
Timothy Bledsoe
|
D
|
6
|
Frederick C. Durhal Jr.
|
D
|
7
|
James Womack
|
D
|
8
|
Thomas Stallworth III
|
D
|
12
|
Rashida Tlaib
|
D
|
15
|
George T. Darany
|
D
|
17
|
Phil Cavanagh
|
D
|
21
|
Dian Slavens
|
D
|
26
|
Jim Townsend
|
D
|
35
|
Rudy Hobbs
|
D
|
39
|
Lisa Brown
|
D
|
50
|
Charles Smiley
|
D
|
54
|
David Rutledge
|
D
|
68
|
Joan Bauer
|
D
|
69
|
Mark S. Meadows
|
D
|
75
|
Brandon Dillon
|
D
|
92
|
Marcia Hovey-Wright
|
D
|
2011-2012 Pollution Promoters (25% and below)
District
|
Name
|
Party
|
19
|
John J. Walsh
|
R
|
20
|
Kurt Heise
|
R
|
23
|
Pat Somerville
|
R
|
24
|
Anthony G. Forlini
|
R
|
30
|
Jeff Farrington
|
R
|
32
|
Andrea LaFontaine
|
R
|
33
|
Ken Goike
|
R
|
36
|
Peter J. Lund
|
R
|
38
|
Hugh D. Crawford
|
R
|
40
|
Charles Moss
|
R
|
41
|
Martin Knollenberg
|
R
|
43
|
Gail Haines
|
R
|
44
|
Eileen Kowall
|
R
|
45
|
Tom McMillin
|
R
|
46
|
Bradford C. Jacobsen
|
R
|
47
|
Cynthia S. Denby
|
R
|
52
|
Mark Ouimet
|
R
|
55
|
Rick Olson
|
R
|
56
|
Dale W. Zorn
|
R
|
57
|
Nancy E. Jenkins
|
R
|
58
|
Kenneth Kurtz
|
R
|
59
|
Matthew J. Lori
|
R
|
61
|
Margaret E. O'Brien
|
R
|
63
|
Jase Bolger
|
R
|
64
|
Earl Poleski
|
R
|
65
|
Michael Shirkey
|
R
|
66
|
William Rogers
|
R
|
70
|
Rick Outman
|
R
|
71
|
Deb Lynn Shaughnessy
|
R
|
72
|
Ken Yonker
|
R
|
73
|
Peter MacGregor
|
R
|
74
|
David Agema
|
R
|
77
|
Thomas B. Hooker
|
R
|
78
|
Sharon Tyler
|
R
|
79
|
Al Pscholka
|
R
|
80
|
Aric Nesbitt
|
R
|
81
|
Judson S. Gilbert II
|
R
|
82
|
Kevin Daley
|
R
|
83
|
Paul Muxlow
|
R
|
84
|
Kurt Damrow
|
R
|
85
|
Ben Glardon
|
R
|
86
|
Lisa Posthumus Lyons
|
R
|
87
|
Mike Callton
|
R
|
88
|
Robert J. Genetski II
|
R
|
89
|
Amanda Price
|
R
|
90
|
Joseph Haveman
|
R
|
91
|
Holly Hughes
|
R
|
93
|
Paul E. Opsommer
|
R
|
94
|
Kenneth B. Horn
|
R
|
97
|
Joel Johnson
|
R
|
98
|
Jim Stamas
|
R
|
99
|
Kevin Cotter
|
R
|
100
|
Jon Bumstead
|
R
|
101
|
Ray A. Franz
|
R
|
102
|
Phil Potvin
|
R
|
103
|
Bruce R. Rendon
|
R
|
104
|
Wayne A. Schmidt
|
R
|
105
|
Greg MacMaster
|
R
|
106
|
Peter Pettalia
|
R
|
107
|
Frank Foster
|
R
|
108
|
Ed McBroom
|
R
|
110
|
Matt Huuki
|
R
|
