Environmental group gives Legislature average marks
NASHVILLE — Tennessee legislators compiled a lukewarm record on environmental issues during the last General Assembly, according to an environmental scorecard issued Thursday by Tennessee Conservation Voters.
The group, a coalition of 17 other groups interested in environmental issues, rated lawmakers on their sponsorship or votes on 17 bills that were, in its view, either pro-environment or anti-environment. It gave points for support of some bills and took away points for support of others.
Only five of the bills passed. Most of the rest died in committee, so many legislators never got a chance to vote on them. Coalition members said that made the scorecard somewhat difficult to prepare.
It found that among senators, those with the best records in 2004 were Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga; JoAnn Graves, D-Gallatin, and Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville.
In the House, the members rated as having the best voting records were Russell Johnson, R-Loudon, and Mike McDonald, D-Portland. Close behind them were Reps. Tim Garrett, D-Goodlettsvile, who recently lost in his primary election; Mike Kernell, D-Memphis, and Majority Leader Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville.
The worst voting records rated in the House belonged to Reps. H.E. Bittle, R-Knoxville; Joe Kent, R-Memphis; Jim Vincent, R-Chattanooga; and Curry Todd, R-Collierville.
None of those in the last group except Todd is running for re-election.
“We hope this scorecard will make votes public and the performance of legislators open to public scrutiny,” said Penny Brooks, president of Tennessee Conservation Voters. “Tennesseans love their environment and right now they have no way of knowing how their legislator votes.”
She and other members of the group expressed frustration with the Legislature’s common practice of killing things without recorded votes, a frequent complaint among people who watch the General Assembly.
Daniel Boone, a member of the coalition representing Tennessee Scenic Rivers, said the group was most disappointed by the Legislature’s failure to pass a bill that would have given the commissioner of the Department of Environment and Conservation the authority to issue a stop-work order in cases where surface mining operations were causing illegal pollution of nearby waterways.
“That seemed like a simple thing,” he said. “It doesn’t say the commissioner had to issue a stop-work order, only that she could. But we couldn’t get the support of either the department or the administration.”
The group said several of the bills it supported were thwarted either by opposition from the Bredesen administration, or died for lack of its support.
“The first two years of the Bredesen administration have shown very few positive initiatives,” said Bill Terry of the Sierra Club, another member of the coalition. “We understand why that is. They’ve been involved in a lot of volatile budget issues that took precedence over everything else.”
He said he believes Bredesen is generally a supporter of environmental legislation and that he believes it will get better in coming years.
———
On the Net:
Tennessee Conservation Voters: www.tnconservationvoters.org