Jennette Gayer
State Director, Environment Georgia
MORE OFTEN THAN NOT GA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION FAILS TO STAND UP FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR FAMILIES’ HEALTH
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Environment Georgia
Atlanta (Dec. 6, 2017) — Today, Environment Georgia released its federal scorecard evaluating how the Peach State congressional delegation has voted when it comes to supporting clean air, clean water and other environmental protections. Absences count against a member’s score. Executive Director Jennette Gayer released the following statement:
“The country is terribly polarized these days on all sorts of issues, including the need to protect our environment. It shouldn’t be this way and it didn’t used to be. Unfortunately, the Georgia delegation is no exception.
“Overall, the U.S. Senate scored only 48% and the U.S. House of Representatives scored 45%, which does not bode well for our air or water. Here in Georgia our two senators averaged 0% and in the House 27% well below the national average.
“On the bright side, we in Georgia can be proud that two members voted with us 100% of the time, which means our planet and our families are represented by a few real environmental champs. Standouts from our delegation were Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Hank Johnson.
It’s also good news that we had a few members were willing to part with their Republican colleagues to protect the environment. Representatives Scott and Handel voted against elimination of Amtrak funding which likely would have resulted in the elimination of Amtrak service in GA. Rep. Woodall voted against major cuts to the EPA and Rep. Graves who voted against an amendment that would have curbed the EPA’s ability to enforce environmental laws.
Unfortunately, Georgia Representatives Carter, Ferguson, Collins, Hice, Loudermilk and Allen voted with us 0% of the time.
“When taken altogether, the Georgia delegation is a disappointment when it comes to the environment. Here’s hoping our Congresspeople uniformly start to show the kind of strong and effective leadership we need to reflect the core environmental values so many of us share.”
