Not to Not to harp on John McCain's lack of green credibility or anything, but the League of Conservation Voters released their annual congressional scorecard yesterday, and the "Maverick" scored a giant goose egg on all things environmental in 2007 – worse than representatives who had terminal illnesses or even died during this session, as Grist points out. His lifetime score now stands at a paltry 24 percent. But it's not that he voted against environmental protections – he just didn't show up to vote on the 15 legislative issues LCV included in the scorecard. The votes he missed would have saved Americans $499 million on gasoline and $550 million on energy bills, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, and could have created a major green component of the stimulus package.
Of course, since he's running for office he's expected to miss some votes. But Clinton and Obama scored a 73 and 67, respectively, keeping them well above the 53 percent average in Congress last year. Clinton maintains a lifetime score of 87 percent, and Obama a score of 86 percent. So in both rhetoric and record, McCain just doesn't hold a candle compact florescent lightbulb to the Democrats.
--Kate Sheppard
