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Arkansas delegation scores mixed on environmental report Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - A national environmental group Wednesday named Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, among lawmakers with one of the best voting records for protecting the environment and Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, among the worst. The annual scorecard from the League of Conservation Voters showed Snyder with votes matching the league's pro-environment views 92 percent of the time. Boozman's score was 8 percent. The state's two senators, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, each had 43 percent scores. Arkansas' two other congressman, Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and Marion Berry, D-Gillett, were both at 25 percent. Ross said the scorecard is meaningless. "It's just another one of those special interest groups that determines, out of the thousands of votes we cast, the handful they want to use to accomplish their intended purpose," he said. The scorecard is based on seven Senate votes and 12 House votes on topics such as offshore drilling, oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and funding for a federal heating assistance program for low-income citizens. Boozman fared better than 2005, when the group gave him a zero. Boozman said the group singled out only a few votes among others he made to create fish hatcheries and improve dams in Arkansas. He said his support of Arctic energy exploration and offshore drilling does not make him unfriendly to the environment. "When I look at environmental issues, what I try to do is look at the science that's involved and common sense and take out the emotion," Boozman said. A spokeswoman for the league called Snyder "a real champion" for the environment. Snyder said in a statement that Arkansans have respect for air and water quality. Boozman was not surprised at the discrepancy between his score and Snyder's. "I think there's just a difference in approach," he said. "Vic feels very strongly about the ANWR situation, and the Democratic party, a lot of their funding comes from that group of environmentalists." Tiernan Sittenfeld, legislative director for the League of Conservation Voters, said party identity was not a significant factor nationally. She said Boozman should be more environmentally sensitive, since his district is located in the mountains of northwest Arkansas. "You would think he would feel it was incumbent upon him to protect the environment, but his voting record certainly suggests that's not the way he feels," Sittenfeld said. Berry and Ross voted identically on environmental issues, as did Pryor and Lincoln, according to the scorecard. The senators' scores dropped to 43 percent from about 60 percent last year. Berry's and Ross' also fell. Berry was at 44 percent in 2005 and Ross at 50. Like others in the delegation, Ross said his votes on environmental issues reflected the desires of his district. In a statement, Pryor said he supported allowing states to choose whether to drill for natural gas off their own coasts. His offshore drilling vote cost him on the scorecard. "Achieving energy independence requires a mixture of sensible policies that reduce demand for foreign oil and increase the supply of domestic energy sources," Pryor said. |
