NH Senators, Congressmen Get Low Scores on Wilderness “Report Card”
WASHINGTON – All four New Hampshire Congress members scored low on a “report card” issued this week by a national environmental organization.
In its second “wild card” report, the American Wilderness Coalition judged lawmakers on how they voted on certain bills, whether they co-sponsored others and whether they showed “leadership” in wilderness protection. Although environmental protection is a key issue in New Hampshire, none of the state’s Republican House and Senate members scored above a “D.”
The coalition gave Sen. Judd Gregg a “D-,” up from a 2002 rating of “F,” because he cast a single “pro-wilderness” vote to alter a bill that would allow logging in national forests.
Sen. John E. Sununu, who opposed the coalition on its three main votes, received an “F” for 2003, his first year in the Senate.
Reps. Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley both received a “D.” Bass’s grade is down from a “C” in 2002 because he voted “pro-wilderness” on only two of the eight bills before the House. Bass was one of 143 co-sponsors of a bill that would identify part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as “wilderness,” permanently protecting it in its natural condition. Bradley’s first year in Congress was 2003.
Senators were graded according to their positions on three issues environmentalists oppose: drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic, logging in Alaska’s rainforest and opening national forests to logging to prevent forest fires. The coalition also considered votes on measures environmentalists support that would identify areas in Alaska and the Rockies as “wilderness.”
House members were judged by their votes on all of those issues, plus a bill that environmentalists support to keep certain public lands “roadless.” Another vote concerned an amendment that would have increased taxes on Americans earning more than $1 million a year and used the money to purchase more land and water for parks and forests. A procedural vote prevented that amendment from reaching the floor.
The coalition gave extra weight to votes on Arctic drilling, saying it had “national significance.”
Of the 23 lawmakers who received an “A+” rating, only one—Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut—is Republican. House Democrats Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut also received “A+” ratings.
Of the 252 lawmakers who received a failing grade, 240 are Republicans.
