The League of Conservation Voters--a nationwide environmental group that works to "advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates"--has released its annual environmental scorecard ranking members of the United States House of Representatives and the Senate on key environmental votes. Overall, 2007 was a year of progress on the environment according to the League of Conservation Voters. The League's president, Gene Karpinski said 2007, "marked a turning point for the environment, and proved that electing pro-environment candidates is a critical first step toward enacting sound environmental policies that will protect our planet and our future. "
According to the League's scorecard, legislators representing West Michigan--Representative Vern Ehlers and Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow--had a average rating of 68%. Overall, the average rating for a Michigan legislator was around 47%. The average was brought down by Representatives Dave Camp, Pete Hoekstra, Michael Rogers, and Tim Walberg who all received ratings between 0% and 5%. Of course, it is important to remember that while the 68% average ranking enjoyed by West Michigan's representatives might look good in comparison to the aforementioned legislators or the average rating, it does mean that West Michigan's legislators voted in defense of the environment less than 70% of the time.
In order to allow for more detailed review of their records, the candidates voting records are reprinted below:
Vern Ehlers
| Name of Legislation | Voted | Score | |||
| Passed | CAFE & Clean Energy | N |  | ||
| Passed | Hard Rock Mining Reform | Y |  |
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| Failed | Weakening Hard Rock Mining Reform | Y | | ||
| Passed | Clean Energy | Y | | ||
| |
Renewable Electricity Standard | Y | | ||
| Failed | Grasslands Protection | Y | |
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| Failed | Farm Bill - Subsidy Reform | Y | | ||
| Passed | Environmental Funding | N | | ||
| |
Oil Shale | Y | | ||
| | Tongass Logging Roads | Y | |
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| Failed | Mexican Wolf Recovery | N | | ||
| | Clean Air | Y | | ||
| Failed | Reducing Global Warming | N | | ||
| Failed | Offshore Drilling | N | |
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| Failed | Population | Y | | ||
| Failed | Electric Transmission Corridors | N | | ||
| Failed | Global Warming and National Security | N | | ||
| Passed | Clean Water | Y | |
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| Failed | Liquid Coal | Y | | ||
| Passed | Oil Subsides Repeal | Y | | ||
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Carl Levin
| Name of Legislation | Voted | Score | |||
| Rejected | Eminent Domain | N | | ||
| Rejected | Oil Subsidies Repeal - Cloture | Y | |
||
| Rejected | Farm Bill - Subsidy Caps | Y | | ||
| Rejected | Farm Bill - Subsidy Reform | N | | ||
| Rejected | CAFE & Clean Energy - Cloture | Y | | ||
| Rejected | Population | N | |
||
| Passed | CAFE & Energy Efficiency - Passage | N | | ||
| | CAFE & Energy Efficiency - Cloture | N | | ||
| |
Biofuels | Y | | ||
| Rejected | Liquid Coal | N | |
||
| Rejected | Virginia Offshore Drilling | ? |  | ||
| | Undermining Renewable Electricity | Y | | ||
| Rejected | Oil Refineries | N | | ||
| Rejected | Water Resources - Global Warming | Y | |
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| Rejected | Water Resources - Project Prioritization | N | | ||
| | |||||
Debbie Stabenow
| Name of Legislation | Voted | Score | |||
| Rejected | Eminent Domain | N | | ||
| Rejected | Oil Subsidies Repeal - Cloture | Y | |
||
| Rejected | Farm Bill - Subsidy Caps | N | | ||
| Rejected | Farm Bill - Subsidy Reform | N | | ||
| Rejected | CAFE & Clean Energy - Cloture | Y | | ||
| Rejected | Population | N | |
||
| Passed | CAFE & Energy Efficiency - Passage | N | | ||
| | CAFE & Energy Efficiency - Cloture | N | | ||
| |
Biofuels | Y | | ||
| Rejected | Liquid Coal | N | |
||
| Rejected | Virginia Offshore Drilling | N | | ||
| | Undermining Renewable Electricity | Y | | ||
| Rejected | Oil Refineries | N | | ||
| Rejected | Water Resources - Global Warming | Y | |
||
| Rejected | Water Resources - Project Prioritization | N | | ||
| | |||||
