Since January, Virginia Congressional Delegation mostly disappoints when it comes to our environment and our families’ health

Environment Virginia

Today Environment Virginia released its federal scorecard evaluating how the Virginia Congressional delegation has voted when it comes to supporting clean air and clean water and other environmental protections. Campaign Organizer Jacob Morrison released the following statement:

If this were my spring report card, I’d make sure my parents were in a really good mood before I showed it to them. An average score of 46% for our congressional delegation means the majority of our elected officials need to do way more homework when it comes to protecting Virginia’s beloved mountains, rivers, and streams and ensuring a sustainable climate for our families.

We had a few elected officials with a perfect 100% score including Senators Kaine and Warner as well as Representatives Scott, McEachin, Beyer, and Connolly.  Their leadership here in Virginia and in Washington, D.C. is much appreciated.

But we also had way too many elected officials with failing grades like Representatives Wittman and Griffith who voted against the environment when it came to measures like exempting pesticide spraying from the Clean Water Act permitting, which can seriously pollute waterways like the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.

Overall this has been a disturbing spring when it came to Congress standing up for our families health and our environment. The average score for Virginia in the house was 36%; however our senators scored a perfect 100%. Although we see great leadership from our Senators, some have called this the most anti-environmental congress we’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, the Virginia delegation in the House seems to be dragging down the entire country.

The Virginia congressional delegation has a few stars when it comes to our air and water and families, but way too many of our representatives our failing the environment and future generations. Here’s hoping over the course of this term more of our delegation will become strong and effective leaders when it comes to supporting the core environmental values so many of us share.