CALIFORNIA LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS 2008 SCORECARD: A TO F FOR SAN DIEGO'S LEGISLATORS

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Environmental voting records for east San Diego County state legislators and Governor Schwarzenegger

By Sylvia Hampton

December 9, 2008 San Diego) — Environmental protection is very important to San Diego County voters. Every year the League of Conservation Voters publishes a "scorecard" on the voting records of all state level representatives: www.ecovote.org/scorecard_2008.pdf. Among Assembly members representing East County and San Diego's eastern region,  environmental protection scores ranged from a low score of 5% (Anderson, Gerrick and Walters) to a high of 95% (Salas).  Among our state Senators, scores ranged from a low of 6% (Hollingsworth) to a high of 100% (Kehoe), while Governor Schwarzenegger received a 60% rating.

CLCV tracks bills on air quality and global warming, water quality and supply, renewable energy and clean fuels, toxics in the environment (and keeping kids safe from them,) protecting natural resources, and standards for growth and development.  The organization celebrated its greatest legislative victory to date with the passage of the most important land use reform bill in California in three decades, SB 375--the first law in the nation to connect housing and transportation planning decisions with their impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The bill was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who hailed it as "a model that the rest of the country and world will use" to fight global warming.

Two of our past U.S.  presidents were crucial to environmental protection---Teddy Roosevelt (R) for establishing the National Park system and Richard Nixon (R) for the Environmental Protection Agency. Elected officials are trusted to do the right thing for the environment, so it is interesting to know how our state officials from San Diego County scored. A perfect score is 100% and a dismal failure is 0%. There were twenty four bills analyzed and followed last year as important for the environmental health of the state.

 

San Diego County area representatives' scores:

Assembly:

Mimi Walters (R) 73rd District includes Oceanside north into Orange County.  Score: 5%

Martin Gerrick (R) 74th District  includes Del Mar north to Highway 78 north of Carlsbad and east to include Vista, San Marcos and part of Escondido Score: 5%

George Plescia (R) 75th District (Escondido, Poway, La Jolla, Mira Mesa, Scripps Ranch, Fairbanks Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Bernardo) Score: 19% Now represented by Nathan Fletcher (R) .

Lori Saldana (D) 76th District (San Diego South of route 52) Score: 76%

Joel Anderson (R) 77th District (part of San Diego South of Miramar Rd. but mostly East County) Score:  5%

Shirley Horton (R) 78th District includes Chula Vista, Lemon Grove and a large portion (21%) of the city of San Diego) Score: 38%   Now represented by Marty Block (D)

Mary Salas (D) 79th District includes South coastal San Diego, National City, Imperial Beach, Coronado, border area.) Score: 95%

Senate:

Dennis Hollingsworth (R) 36th District (most of East County north of I-8) Score: 6%

Mark Wyland (R) 38th District (includes North coastal San Diego County and Escondido, San Marcos and Vista.) Score: 7%

Christine Kehoe (D) District 39 (urban San Diego) Score: 100%

Denise Ducheny (D) District 40 (San Diego, Riverside County and all of Imperial County) Score: 67%

Governor:  Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Score: 60%

 

2008 California Environmental Scorecard

Snapshot of the numbers

 

2008 Scorecard

2007 Scorecard

Average of all Assemblymembers

61%

58%

Average Assembly Republican Score

14%

5%

Average Assembly Democrat Score

93%

94%

Perfect 100s
(Beall, Berg, Brownley, DeSaulnier, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Hancock, Hayashi, Huffman, Jones, Karnette, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Nava, Ruskin, Saldaña)

19

29

Average of all Senators

60%

59%

Average Senate Republican Score

12%

9%

Average Senate Democrat Score

90%

89%

Perfect 100s
(Corbett, Kehoe, Kuehl, Lowenthal, Ridley-Thomas, Scott, Simitian, Vincent, Wiggins)

9

11

Governor

60%

63%

 

Historical Averages

Average Assembly Scores

 

1990 

1995 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

Assembly Democrats

94

85

98

83

86

94

85

86

87

94

93

Assembly Republicans

24

21

16

6

5

4

6

4

6

5

14

 

Average Senate Scores

 

1990 

1995 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

Senate Democrats

84

76

98

92

92

83

87

91

89

89

90

Senate Republicans

34

14

11

8

4

3

1.5

5

6

9

12

 

Governors' Scores

 

1990 

1995 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

Score

41

21

75

85

72

100

58

58

50

63

60

Governor

Deukmejian

Wilson

Davis

Schwarzenegger

© 2008 California League of Conservation Voters. Contact us.

 

Sylvia Hampton is a community activist inducted into the San Diego County Women’s Hall of fame for 2008 for her work in the fields of healthcare reform, social justice  and reproductive health.  She is the past president of the League of Women Voters of San Diego County and served on President Nixon’s Title X Family Planning Council.  Her monthly Community Forum column is published in the Rancho Bernardo Sun, Diamond Gateway Signature, and her “Soapbox” in the East County Magazine.


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