Environment New Jersey says the state Legislature's performance on pro-green issues took a big dip in the last legislative session, from average scores of 70% in the Senate and 75% in the Assembly to 55% in the 2008-09 session.
The scorecard covered the two-year term that expired back in January. Environment New Jersey canvassers distribute the scorecards as part of its annual summer door-to-door outreach campaign.
It ranked eight votes on land-use, clean energy and energy efficiency measures. Compared with the previous term, the number of lawmakers with perfect scores dropped from eight to four, and four (compared with none in the 2006-07 session) got zeroes.
Top scorers were Sens. Bob Smith and Shirley Turner and Assms. Peter Barnes III and Linda Greenstein.
New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel said such scorecards don't quite capture the nuance of a legislator's effectiveness. For instance: Assm. John McKeon got a demerit for having voted for a 2008 bill extending the life of development permits due to expire. But McKeon voted for that after getting amendments to the bill in his Environment & Solid Waste Committee that took some elements out of the bill that green groups particularly opposed, Tittel said.
Tittel also questioned why the scorecard didn't include the 2009 law -- opposed by only six lawmakers in floor votes -- allowing licensed site remediation professionals to oversee environmental cleanup projects, rather than state employees. He calls that "the worst environmental bill in New Jersey in the last 15 years."
Here's why, says Environment New Jersey field director Doug O'Malley via email: "The simple answer is that Environment New Jersey was not involved in that fight, and we did not put out paper (i.e. Vote Yes/Vote No) -- hence we can't score it."
