Background on the National Environmental Scorecard

The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has published a National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970, the year it was founded by leaders of the environmental movement following the first Earth Day. LCV believes our earth is worth fighting for because everyone has a right to clean air, water, lands, and a safe, healthy community.

This edition of the National Environmental Scorecard provides objective, factual information about the most important environmental legislation considered and the corresponding voting records of all members of the first session of the 118th Congress. This Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from more than 20 respected environmental, environmental justice, 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, environmental and racial justice, worker protection, democracy, public lands and wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs. The votes included in this Scorecard presented members of Congress with a real choice and help distinguish which legislators are working for environmental protection. Except in rare circumstances, the Scorecard excludes consensus action on the environment and issues on which no recorded votes occurred.

Dedicated environmentalists and national leaders volunteered their time to identify and research crucial votes. We extend special thanks to our Board of Directors, Accountability & Endorsements Committee, and Scorecard Advisory Committee for their valuable input.

Overview of the 2023 National Environmental Scorecard

A stark contrast from recent climate progress, as Republicans plunge the House into chaos and manufactured crises.

Following one of the most productive sessions of Congress in history – with passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 the crowning achievement – 2023 was one of the least productive legislative years ever.

With Republicans narrowly in the majority, the House started 2023 in chaos without a speaker for a week in January and again devolved into chaos for weeks in October after, for the first time ever, the speaker was removed because Republican extremists revolted. From the very beginning, Speaker Kevin McCarthy revealed his proclivity for appeasing the most extreme Republicans by establishing an unprecedented set of anti-democratic and anti-environment House rules – including allowing petty, personal attacks on federal civil servants’ salaries, and permitting any member to easily bring a motion to vacate the speaker’s office, eventually paving the way for his ouster. Nevertheless, both deposed Speaker McCarthy and his successor, Speaker Mike Johnson, barely moved must-pass legislation through their chamber and wasted time passing fossil fuel industry priorities that the Senate would never consider.

As people around the country suffered through the hottest year on record and other deadly and devastating impacts of the climate crisis, House Republicans focused on ineffectual attempts to gut the historic affordable clean energy plan, which, in just over a year, had created nearly a quarter million new jobs. In all, the anti-environment Republican House leadership held at least 31 recorded votes to eliminate clean energy incentives that will help tackle climate change and accelerate our country’s transition to a clean energy economy. House Republicans reserved their signature bill, H.R. 1, for a sweeping package of bills that contained huge giveaways to polluters and would lock the U.S. into new fossil fuel production and infrastructure

Extreme House Republicans also refused to work with the Senate on full year government funding, nearly causing catastrophic default on our country’s debts and federal government shutdowns. Unfortunately, the agreement to raise the debt ceiling and avert global financial crisis included anti-environmental riders – industry gained more influence over the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the bill also forced approval of the methane gas Mountain Valley Pipeline. We scored a Senate amendment that would have blocked this damaging pipeline from being approved – not only will it affect our water, climate, and environmental justice communities, it sets a dangerous precedent for Congress to override federal and state authorities for a single project. The deals also undermined efforts to crack down on rich tax cheats that would pay for some of the affordable clean energy plan’s incentives.

Bucking recent trends, both the House and Senate saw floor consideration of some fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills along with many amendments. Each chamber passed at least four appropriations bills, yet none of them were conferenced or signed into law. And the bills could not be more different, with the House approving draconian cuts below agreed upon funding levels and volumes of extreme policy riders while the Senate reached widespread bipartisan agreement on funding levels and no new poison pill policy riders.

The House took hundreds of votes on messaging bills and amendments at the behest of their most extreme members and MAGA base – 15 of the 36 House votes in this Scorecard were messaging amendments offered to government funding bills. Though many of the culture war, racist, and most unpopular environmental attacks failed because they were so extreme, and some of their underlying appropriations bills also failed to advance, many anti-environment riders and crippling program cuts were packed into the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill (H.R. 4821), which we scored along with three other egregiously anti-environment appropriations bills.

In contrast to the House, the Senate remained in Democratic control and saw no leadership drama, keeping a brisk pace of approving 69 lifetime federal judge nominations and adding to the federal bench a qualified, historic group of people diverse in their personal and professional backgrounds and experiences. In particular, Judges Nancy Abudu and Dale Ho are two top voting rights experts, and Judge Rachel Bloomekatz has deep public interest and environmental litigation experience. We are confident all of them will ensure our laws are faithfully and equitably implemented. Now in its third year, the Biden-Harris administration had fewer executive nominations on the docket, but two are included in the 16 total Senate votes.

Republicans in both chambers forced votes on multiple Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval, an extreme and blunt tool that can strip away current protections and permanently block future protections for our environment, communities, workers, wildlife, and natural heritage. We scored CRAs that sought to block the Biden-Harris administration’s progress protecting communities from dirty trucks, endangered species on the edge of survival, and retirement savings from climate risks. Fortunately, these attempts to roll back beneficial rules failed.

The Farm Bill, which is usually a bipartisan priority, was another victim of Republican extremism and lack of productivity. Republicans tried to raid climate smart agriculture, conservation, and clean energy funding appropriated by the affordable clean energy plan, but Democrats were united against this. Congress extended expiring programs’ authorizations through the end of 2024.

Inflation Reduction Act Repeal Votes Tracker

LCV joined with Climate Power and the Climate Action Campaign to compile and update across the year how many times Republicans held recorded votes to repeal the landmark climate and clean energy plan and other provisions of the law - 31 times and counting. There have been at least 17 recorded votes on the House floor and 14 votes in committees and subcommittees. For more visit: https://climatepower.us/resources/inflation-reduction-act-repeal-votes-tracker/.

Champions of Color Leading The Way

The 2023 National Environmental Scorecard demonstrates clear contrasts between the House and Senate, however, climate and democracy champions in both chambers defended critical clean energy investments in our communities and advanced solutions to climate and environmental justice. Many of the climate, conservation, environmental justice, and equitable democracy bills and initiatives in 2023 were led and supported by members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), collectively referred to as the Tri-Caucus.

It’s also worth noting the history-making election of Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) as House Democratic leader, the first member of the Tri-Caucus to be elected to lead a party in either chamber. Not only has he broken barriers and advanced representation of the Tri-Caucus members in congressional leadership, during Leader Jeffries’ first year in the role, he successfully defended investments for our communities and our climate from House Republicans’ relentless attacks. As House Democratic leader, he has consistently prioritized the health of our communities, protecting clean air and water, creating clean energy jobs, expanding voting rights and equitable access to our democracy, advancing environmental justice, and combating the climate crisis.

Leadership on Legislation

Black, Latinx, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) members of the Tri-Caucus – in addition to their Indigenous and other colleagues of color - continued to be a trailblazing force for pro-environment legislation in the first session of the 118th Congress. Below are highlights of that leadership in action:

Equitable Implementation of the Affordable Clean Energy Plan

After the passage of the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) – collectively the biggest action to tackle the climate crisis in U.S. history – many climate champions in Congress focused on educating constituents and connecting communities to the transformational investments within the affordable clean energy plan, often working directly with LCV and our state affiliates. Many of the Tri-Caucus members led the charge to ensure these historic investments rapidly and equitably reach the communities that need them the most.

Representative Andy Kim (NJ-03) was a key leader who ensured the passage of the historic clean energy and climate justice investments in the 117th Congress as well as implementing them swiftly and equitably. He tirelessly advocated for creating domestic clean energy jobs that break our reliance on foreign adversarial dictators and thus promote U.S. energy independence. Kim has also been a leader on implementation, headlining an open forum with LCV and our state affiliate, New Jersey LCV, to discuss the ways the IRA’s transformational investments are unlocking, accelerating, and expanding progress. The forum also highlighted the strategies, challenges, and opportunities state and local leaders face as they prioritize these investments and pass major new state policies like 100% clean electricity to build on the tremendous success of the 117th Congress.

Following the reintroduction of her Climate Adaptation Plan Act of 2023 and release of the Climate Crisis Advisory Committee Framework, Representative Veronica Escobar (TX-16) held a virtual town hall with LCV, engaging directly with Tribal and local government officials to discuss these historic clean energy and climate justice investments and educate local entities and constituents about how to access those beneficial programs. At the event, Chispa TX highlighted the critical importance of prioritizing low-wealth, rural, Tribal, and communities of color when implementing these investments and ensuring we meet the President’s Justice40 goals while rolling back decades of environmental racism facing communities living along the fenceline of polluting facilities.

Ensuring the rapid and equitable implementation of the affordable clean energy plan was not just the purview of members that voted to pass them in the 117th Congress, but many first-term members of the Tri-Caucus hit the ground running to connect communities to these historic climate and clean energy programs. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) was one such champion, heralding the one year anniversary of this historic law by also hosting a town hall and panel to highlight some of its great benefits and discussing equitable access to these programs.

Another first-term leader, Representative Emilia Sykes (OH-13), also worked tirelessly to connect the climate and environmental justice investments with her constituents and communities in Northeast Ohio. A proactive communicator and leader on implementation, Sykes hosted many events, including a tele-town hall featuring LCV and our state affiliate Ohio Environmental Council. The tele-town hall highlighted opportunities to expand clean energy affordability, support working families’ bottom line via Sykes’ child tax credit bill, meet the goals of the president’s Justice40 Initiative, and create thousands of good-paying union jobs while accelerating the just transition to clean energy.

Clean Transportation

Few lawmakers championed clean air protections for our communities as relentlessly as Senator Alex Padilla (CA), who led multiple letters urging the Biden-Harris administration to accelerate the transition to zero emissions cars, SUVs, and heavy trucks.

Padilla also joined Senator Booker and Representative Nannette Barragán (CA-44) to introduce the EVs for All Act, a bill that would increase access to electric vehicles (EVs) for residents of public housing across the nation. Many individuals and families living in public housing currently face limited or no access to EVs and chargers, while also grappling with high gas prices and disproportionate exposure to pollution from fossil fueled vehicles. Expanding access to EVs and ensuring the strongest possible vehicle emissions standards are critical elements of protecting public health and protecting clean air for our communities – especially low-income communities and communities of color.

Representative Doris Matsui (CA-07) also continued her longstanding and tireless leadership alongside Representative Yvette Clarke (NY-09) to defend clean air for our communities. Both sent letters urging the Biden-Harris administration to set strong, equitable clean vehicles standards. They also both went to the House floor and spoke out against the dangerous polluter-backed H.R. 4468, which would block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from setting cleaner vehicle standards.

Environmental Justice

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07) continued his leadership role alongside Senators Cory Booker (NJ) and Tammy Duckworth (IL) and Representative Barbara Lee (CA-12) advancing climate and racial justice by once again sponsoring the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act, a historic community-led initiative and the most comprehensive environmental justice legislation in U.S. history. Representative Kamlager-Dove joined the re-introduction press conference and has stepped up into a leadership role as an environmental justice champion advancing this critical legislation.

After the tragic passing of Representative A. Donald McEachin, Representative Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) has stepped up to honor the legacy of her predecessor, joining as an original cosponsor of this landmark bill and becoming a strong advocate for environmental justice in the U.S. House of Representatives, leading on initiatives to combat air and water pollution and protect public health. McClellan led bicameral letters urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to both comprehensively address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollution threatening clean water and swiftly finalize a protective Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule to limit harmful air pollution from coal-fired power plants. She also joined with frontline leaders as a vocal advocate and ally to fight the dangerous Mountain Valley Pipeline, which threatens communities in Virginia and across the mid-Appalachian region.

Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL) joined McClellan in introducing the Technology Assessment for Air Quality Management Act, which would expand the EPA’s air quality monitoring capabilities, a critical foundation for reducing exposure to toxic air pollution, improving public health for at-risk, low-wealth, and communities of color, and advancing environmental justice. Improved air monitoring is particularly important for communities that are more likely to live and work on the fencelines of polluting facilities, freight hubs, and near heavily trafficked roads.

Democracy & Voting Rights

Despite House Republicans blocking any attempt to advance voting rights, Representative Terri Sewell (AL-07) continued her tireless leadership advocating for a more just and equitable democracy, re-introducing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act on National Voter Registration Day. Honoring the legacy of one of the greatest voting rights advocates in Congress and our country, this legislation would protect the right to vote and safeguard our democracy by restoring and modernizing the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Representative Hank Johnson (GA-04) also continued his efforts to advance a fair and equitable judiciary, reintroducing the Judiciary Act to expand the U.S. Supreme Court. This historic legislation would bring balance to the nation’s highest court, help to restore America’s faith in the judicial branch of government, and ensure this institution justly interprets the laws that protect our environment and our rights instead of undermining them.

Protecting Public Lands

In 2023, Representative Grijalva capped years of engagement and support of Tribal-led efforts to protect more public lands in the Grand Canyon region by celebrating the historic designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. This ground-breaking designation honors the stories, histories, and sacred sites of the Havasupai, Hualapai, Hopi, and Navajo people and protects a vital water source. Grijalva’s efforts were vital to elevate the Tribal-led campaign to permanently protect this beautiful and sacred area.

Senator Padilla was another key conservation champion in 2023, advocating for several national monuments in California. Padilla focused on expanding the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in southern California and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in northern California that would further protect these beautiful and sacred places, move us closer to achieving our 30x30 conservation goals, and increase equitable access to the outdoors for communities of color – all while combating the climate crisis.

Stopping Dirty Energy

One of the most pressing and impactful climate and environmental justice challenges of 2023 was stopping the massive buildout of liquefied methane gas (LNG) export infrastructure, and many of our champions from the Tri-Caucus have been leading the fight alongside frontline advocates. Representatives Barragán and McClellan have been two of the most vocal champions on this critical issue, playing leadership roles in a bicameral letter urging the Department of Energy to update how it determines whether new export projects are in the public interest – calling for an updated process assessing the full climate, environmental justice, and economic impacts of the LNG exports buildout and making the case that such an analysis would conclude these projects are not in the public interest. These efforts – in support of grassroots activism from frontline environmental justice advocates in the Gulf and across the country – were instrumental in laying the groundwork for the Biden-Harris administration’s historic January 2024 announcement to pause consideration of any new export permits while conducting a thorough analysis assessment of whether these exports are in the public interest.

In addition to his strong leadership pushing for protecting public lands and environmental justice, Representative Grijalva played a crucial role in the caucus, holding the line against the onslaught of Republican attempts to fast track the fossil fuel industry’s wishlist to expand dirty and dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure and put our frontline and fenceline communities at further risk. He opposed further expansion of LNG export infrastructure that not only harms our communities but also increases prices for consumers, and has consistently been a champion for a just and equitable clean energy transition that prioritizes the health and safety of our communities, particularly those that have often been sacrificed and left behind to satiate the greed of the fossil fuel industry.