The group Clean Water Action recently released its annual legislative environmental scorecard in which the group evaluates the votes of Michigan House of Representatives and Senators in order to determine their commitment to the protecting the state’s environment. Clean Water Action found that the Michigan House of Representatives fails to support environmental protections 70% of the time while the Senate fails 64% of the time. These votes must also be evaluated in light of budget cuts for the state Department in Environmental Quality as it then become clear that there is little effort to protect the environment in the state. However, Clean Water Action does cite a reason to be optimistic—the group states that the election of six environmentally friendly legislators from any political party would create a “pro-environment, pro-Great Lakes majority” in the Michigan Legislature.

Legislators representing Kent County in the Michigan House of Representatives received poor ratings from Clean Water Action, with the majority of the Kent County delegation receiving ratings of “30.” On each vote, legislators were given ten points for a “pro-environment” vote or zero points for an “anti-environment” point, with points tallied to determine an overall score assessing each legislator’s commitment to the environment and public health. Consequently, the average score of “30” for Kent County’s Representatives means that they only voted to protect the environment 30% of the time, with the only exception being Democrat Michael Sak who voted to protect the environment 80% of the time. Among area state Senators the numbers were similar, with most Senators voting to protect the environment 30% of the time with the only exception being Senator Bill Hardiman who voted in favor of the environment 35% of the time. Clean Water Action has also compiled descriptions of votes in the House and Senate.

The ratings for local legislators are listed below:

Environmental Votes by Area Representatives

Environmental Votes by Area Senators