EDITORIAL: Michigan League of Conservation Voters’ Reportcard

THE MLCV CLAIMS to be a nonpartisan group. However, the group’s staff and Board of Directors are populated by former Democratic elected officials and individuals who have endorsed, and donated to Democratic candidates in Ann Arbor. We have no issue with Democrats serving on the group’s board, or those same Democrats supporting the candidates of their choosing. We do find it disturbing for an organization whose leadership is so clearly affiliated with one political party to continue to claim to provide nonpartisan evaluations of Michigan lawmakers.

According to the EPA, Washtenaw County, whose state-level elected officials all received 100 percent grades from the MLCV, has one of the nation’s largest groundwater pollution cleanup sites (the Gelman/Pall 1,4 dioxane plume). The county has no comprehensive surface water testing program and over half of the county’s surface water is impaired, according to EPA data. The entire county failed to meet EPA clean air standards for particulate matter levels between 2004 and 2012. Asthma levels among the county’s children far surpass those in the state and nation, according to the Washtenaw Asthma Coalition. Despite these issues, the MCLV gave local Democrats perfect scores. Voters need more reliable evaluations and the MLCV needs to revise its criteria.