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Executive Summary

In our 2008 report, we noted the significant shift from defensive to solution-oriented votes between 2006 and 2008 (from 29 percent to 64 percent of votes being solution-oriented). That trend has continued, with 85 percent of the votes we scored being solution oriented. What is more, the measures reaching and being signed by the President also reflect greater progress on solutions, most notably in the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which contained an historic $80 billion of funding for clean energy and green transportation investments, and with the passage of the Omnibus Public Lands Act, which will provide protections to 2 million acres of public lands and other national treasures.

The continuing trend to more solution oriented votes has also been accompanied by more Environmental Champions and fewer Environmental Disasters (members of Congress who get a 100 percent or 0 percent score respectively). Both the House and the Senate saw more Champions than in years past, with the House going from 124 in 2008 to 146 in 2009, and the Senate going from 20 in 2008 to 45 in 2009. When it comes to the Disasters, the Senate seems to have a stable foundation of members who consistently vote against the environment, up to 27 this year from 21 last year. The House however tells a different story. Even after taking a significant plunge from 114 Disasters in 2006 to 67 in 2008, this year found only 17 House members who seem wholly committed to the anti-environmental position.

 We would argue that the increased focus on solution oriented votes is not only good for the environment, but also helps identify those who are the most recalcitrant anti-environmental legislators.