ENVIRONMENTAL SCORECARD

Here, courtesy of the League of Conservation Voters, is a very useful tool ~ a map of the U.S., showing how each state's Senators and Representatives (on separate tabs) scored in 2012 on their votes on environmental issues, with a higher percentage indicating votes more friendly to the environment.  Overall the picture is not pretty ~ the Senate's average score is only 56%, and the House's average is a dismal 42%.

It is instructive to flip back and forth between Senate and House, and note how an individual state's score can change.  In my state of Montana, for instance, our senators score in the top 20%, while our representative scores just above the bottom 20%.

The page also features voting graphs for each chamber, as well as a record of the votes cast on individual pieces of legislation.  There is also a search tool for finding your members of Congress, a scorecard archive, and a list of recent votes in 2013.

This resource should be one of every voter's primary tools in deciding for whom to vote in the 2014 and 2016 elections.  For those who understand that our crumbling environment is the paramount issue facing voters, the issue which influences all others, there is no more important criterion for judging candidates.