Environment New Mexico Issues Scorecard, Applauds New Mexico’s Congressional Champs

Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and Representatives Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Congressional delegation voted for the environment 100% of the time in the past year and a half, according to the annual Congressional Scorecard Congressional Scorecard (pdf) on major environmental issues released today by Environment New Mexico.

Environment New Mexico is releasing its annual scorecard as part of its national campaign to pass legislation in Congress to repower our economy with clean energy and cut global warming pollution.

“Both of our senators, as well as two of our representatives, have consistently voted to put the environment ahead of special interests. In the past year and a half they successfully fought to invest an unprecedented $80 billion in clean energy and to protect more than two million acres of wilderness,” said Environment New Mexico Environment Associate Kim McMurray in a statement released today. “These scorecards are an important tool to educate the public about the voting records of their elected officials and to honor public officials like this that have a record of putting the environment first.”

Environment New Mexico scored 7 votes in the Senate ranging from an economic recovery bill that allocates $80 billion in clean energy investment to a bill to cap global warming pollution to protecting our coasts from offshore drilling. They scored 15 votes in the House ranging from a bill to repower America with clean energy and begin to reduce global warming pollution to protecting the Wild Sky Wilderness area in Washington state to investing $80 billion in clean energy to recover our economy to protecting the Great Lakes.

“We applaud our Congressional delegation for being heroes for the environment. New Mexico has only one member of Congress who did not receive a 100 percent score for consistently voting to protect the environment,” said McMurray.

With the help of our delegation the 111th Congress is making progress in several key areas. Already, the House of Representatives has passed a bill to begin to repower the country with clean energy and limit global warming pollution.

Senator Bingaman’s position as chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee puts him in a unique position to champion environmental issues on the national level. "I am fortunate to chair the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee," Bingaman said. "In that capacity, I am able to help protect our nation's special places and better position the country to shift to cleaner energy. We've made some progress already on both those fronts during this Congress and I look forward to continuing to advance these issues in 2010," Bingaman continued.

Environment New Mexico is a nonprofit, nonpartisan environmental advocacy organization.