MICHIGAN LCV UNVEILED scores for the Michigan delegation as part of the League of Conservation Voters 2013 National Environmental Scorecard. The Scorecard reflects a jarring disconnect between a record-breaking year of climate change impacts and an unprecedented amount of anti-environmental legislation, particularly from the U.S. House of Representatives, during the first session of the 113th Congress.

“Michigan thrives on the health and quality of its natural resources, and we are proud to have allies in Congress such as Senator Stabenow and Congressman Peters who put Pure Michigan values first,” said Lisa Wozniak, Executive Director for Michigan LCV. “On the other hand, despite a year of floods, droughts, and record-low lake levels, climate change was clearly not on the minds of much of Michigan’s House delegation where the average score of 37 percent is troubling.”

The 2013 Scorecard covers votes during the first session of the 113th Congress. It includes 13 Senate votes and 28 House votes on issues ranging from public health protections and clean energy to land and wildlife conservation. It comes on the heels of another record-breaking year of climate change impacts with extreme and erratic weather that caused seven separate weather and climate disasters with price tags exceeding $1 billion.

In Michigan, five House members earned a score of 90 percent or greater on the 2013 Scorecard, while eight House members earned an abysmal score of 10 percent or less. The average House score in 2013 for Michigan was 37 percent, while the Senate scored a perfect 100 percent.

Nationwide, the average House score in 2013 was 43 percent and the average Senate score was 58 percent. Members who defeated 2012 members of LCV’s Dirty Dozen have an average 2013 score of 92 percent, while the Dirty Dozen members that they replaced had an average lifetime score of just 12 percent.

“There is a jarring disconnect between the frightening climate change developments of 2013 and the results of the 2013 National Environmental Scorecard,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “Together with our allies in the Senate, the Obama Administration was able to defend against the worst attacks on our environment and protect public health.”

For over 40 years, the National Environmental Scorecard issued by LCV has been the nationally accepted yardstick used to rate members of Congress on environmental, public health, and energy issues. LCV has released an interactive National Environmental Scorecard, which allows users to easily see how every member of Congress voted since the launch of LCV’s first Scorecard in 1971. It can be found online at http://scorecard.lcv.org/.