On Thursday, March 12, the League of Conservation Voters released its 2019 National Environmental Scorecard. The Scorecard is the primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of every member of Congress.
The 2019 Scorecard measures votes cast during the first session of the 116th Congress In the House, it includes 29 House votes on climate-related bills, protections for our air, water, lands, and wildlife, and pro-democracy legislation. In the Senate, for the third year in a row, the majority of the 14 scored votes are confirmation votes on Trump’s anti-environmental nominees.
In New York State, 21 of the 27 House members and both Senators earned a score of 90 percent or greater. The average House score for New York State was 84 percent and the average Senate score was 96 percent. The full delegation’s scores for 2019 are:
| Senator Charles Schumer | 100% |
| Senator Kirsten Gillibrand | 93% |
| Representative Lee Zeldin (NY-1) | 28% |
| Representative Peter King (NY-2) | 41% |
| Representative Thomas Suozzi (NY-3) | 97% |
| Representative Kathleen Rice (NY-4) | 93% |
| Representative Gregory Meeks (NY-5) | 93% |
| Representative Grace Meng (NY-6) | 100% |
| Representative Nydia Velázquez (NY-7) | 100% |
| Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) | 97% |
| Representative Yvette Clarke (NY-9) | 100% |
| Representative Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) | 100% |
| Representative Max Rose (NY-11) | 93% |
| Representative Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) | 100% |
| Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) | 100% |
| Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) | 97% |
| Representative Jose Serrano (NY-15) | 100% |
| Representative Eliot Engel (NY-16) | 100% |
| Representative Nita Lowey (NY-17) | 93% |
| Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) | 97% |
| Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) | 97% |
| Representative Paul Tonko (NY-20) | 100% |
| Representative Elise Stefanik (NY-21) | 55% |
| Representative Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) | 97% |
| Representative Tom Reed (NY-23) | 31% |
| Representative John Katko (NY-24) | 48% |
| Representative Joseph Morelle (NY-25) | 97% |
| Representative Brian Higgins (NY-26) | 97% |
| Representative Chris Collins (NY-27) | 9% |
“As the Trump administration continues to roll back environmental protections and actively put American’s health at risk, US Senator Charles Schumer and nine Congressional Representatives from New York State – the most of any state delegation this year – earned a perfect 100% voting record by standing up for our nation’s laws that protect our air, water, land, and wildlife,” said NYLCV President Julie Tighe. “We are proud to have a green delegation in Congress to defend our environmental values and advance a climate action and conservation agenda that is fair and just.”
LCV has published a National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970. The Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from about 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, public health, public lands and wildlife conservation, 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.