FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2022

MCV Announces Montana Congressional Delegation Scores in LCV’s 2022 National Environmental Scorecard 

(BOZEMAN, Mont.) – Today, Montana Conservation Voters released the Montana delegation’s scores for the League of Conservation Voters’ 2022 National Environmental Scorecard. Since 1970, LCV’s Scorecard has been the primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of members of the U.C. Congress.

2022 was the best year ever for energy freedom in Congress with the passage of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act that invests roughly $369 billion in advancing clean energy and creating good jobs. In stark contrast to previous sessions, 2022 was an exceptionally productive year for Congress. With the pro-environment-led House and Senate, Congress showed up and seized the opportunity to pass historic clean energy policy.

“We are proud to have in Jon Tester a Senator that will fight for Montana’s future as well as deliver real wins that help Montanans today,” said Whitney Tawney, the Executive Director of Montana Conservation voters.  “While Senator Tester has stood up for Montana’s environment – unfortunately, Senator Steve Daines and Representative Matt Rosendale continue to side with corporate polluters over people. Despite the fact that a majority of Montanans consider themselves conservationists, Senator Daines and Representative Rosendale consistently voted against opportunities to protect the healthy environment that defines the state. We know the work is still not done and the future of our planet and our democracy are at stake. We must hold leaders like Senator Daines and Representative Rosendale accountable, and we must build on Congress’ tremendous success by thanking Senator Tester and sending him back to Congress to keep getting it done.”

“What a year of historic progress! In 2022, pro-environment majorities in the House and Senate showed the world what’s possible when leaders are committed to delivering the action on climate, clean energy, jobs and justice voters demand,” said LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “In a year that saw more suffering from the climate crisis and more pain at the pump as oil and gas companies raised energy costs, environmental champions in Congress took transformative climate action to begin to insulate the U.S. from volatile fossil fuel prices and build an affordable clean energy future. This year, we are all in to support the swift, effective, and equitable implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, work with Montana’s champions in Congress to continue to fight for popular action on climate and environmental justice and block attempts to roll back environmental safeguards,  and support the Biden-Harris administration’s finalization of critical health and climate protections across the agencies.”

The 2022 Scorecard includes dozens of votes on other impactful environmental bills, as well as a number of votes in both chambers on legislation that would strengthen democracy including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the DISCLOSE Act.

The 2022 Scorecard includes 23 votes in the Senate and 19 votes in the House, with the vote on the IRA counting twice in both chambers.

The full delegation’s scores for 2022 are:

Senator Jon Tester – 95 percent  

Senator Steve Daines – 4 percent 

Representative Matt Rosendale – 0 percent

LCV has published a National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970. The Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from more than 20 respected environmental and conservation organizations who selected the key votes on which members of Congress should be scored. LCV scores votes on the most important issues of the year, including energy, climate change, environmental justice, public health, public lands and wildlife conservation, democracy, and spending for environmental programs. The votes included in the Scorecard presented members of Congress with a real choice and help distinguish which legislators are working for environmental protection. More information on individual votes and the Scorecard archive can be found at scorecard.lcv.org.