LCV 2020 National Environmental Scorecard
In February 2020, the League of Conservation Voters’ published its 2020 National Environmental Scorecard showing the vastly different approaches the House and Senate took on environmental progress and the four interwoven crises plaguing our nation: the coronavirus pandemic, economic inequality, racial injustice, and climate change. The Scorecard is the primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of every member of Congress, and is available for download in English here, in Spanish here, and online in both languages at scorecard.lcv.org.
The 2020 Scorecard measures votes cast during the second session of the 116th Congress. In Ohio, four House members and Senator Brown earned a score of 90 percent or greater, while four House members earned an abysmal score of 10 percent or less. The average House score for Ohio was just 38 percent and the average Senate score was 54 percent. The full delegation’s scores for 2020 are:
Senator Brown (D) - 92 percent
Senator Portman (R) - 15 percent
Representative Chabot (R) - 14 percent
Representative Wenstrup (R) - 5 percent
Representative Beatty (D) - 95 percent
Representative Jordan (R) - 5 percent
Representative Latta (R) - 10 percent
Representative Johnson, B. (R) - 14 percent
Representative Gibbs (R) - 19 percent
Representative Davidson (R) - 10 percent
Representative Kaptur (D) - 90 percent
Representative Turner (R) - 33 percent
Representative Fudge (D) - 90 percent
Representative Balderson (R) - 24 percent
Representative Ryan, T. (D) - 100 percent
Representative Joyce (R) - 33 percent
Representative Stivers (R) - 33 percent
Representative Gonzalez (R) - 29 percent
The 2020 Scorecard includes 21 House votes that advanced pro-environmental and pro-democracy bills, provisions, and government funding. In the Senate, for the fourth year in a row, the majority of the 13 scored votes were extreme and partisan nominations both to the federal bench and the Trump administration. For the first time, the 2020 National Environmental Scorecard includes votes on removing public monuments to racism and policing and criminal justice reform. The same damaging system—racism—is at the root of climate injustice, environmental injustice, and police brutality. The 2020 Scorecard therefore includes votes that reflect LCV’s belief that these struggles are intertwined and must be addressed together.
LCV has published a National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970. The Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from more than 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, environmental justice, public health, public lands and wildlife conservation, democracy, 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.
In February 2020, LCV released a new report examining the environmental records of members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), collectively referred to as the Tri-Caucus. Using data from LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard, the report details how members of the Tri-Caucus were champions of strong environmental policies that address environmental injustice, helped chair a record number of hearings about climate change, and led on many of the critical pro-environmental bills during the 116th Congress.