Week #2 Item #3

The LCV

While researching Obama's position on global warming and other environmental factors, I found that I came across the acronyms "LCV" a lot. The League of Conservation Voters, the LCV which it is commonly referred to, is a political advocacy organization that supports pro-environmental candidates. One of the biggest accomplishments of the LCV is publishing the National Environmental Scorecard, a system of scores that helps rank candidates on their support for a better environment. It is interesting to note that through the LCV's endorsements, candidates have a better chance of succeeding. For example, in the 2006 elections, 8 out of the 12 candidates on the LCV's "Dirty Dozen List" went down in defeat. The Dirty Dozen list "targets current and former members of Congress-regardless of party affiliation-who consistently vote against the environment and are running in races where LCV has a serious chance of affecting the outcome" (http://lcv.org/2007-scorecard-overview.html).

Currently, Senator Barack Obama has the highest lifetime rating, and it is pretentiously shown throughout their organization's site. They make it very clear that they are pro-Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

The League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President because his plan to stop global warming pollution will break America’s addiction to oil and will create jobs across the country. Moreover, Sen. Obama’s plan is more than words, it is backed by a strong environmental voting record and forward-looking policy proposals for America’s renewable energy future.
In his time in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Obama has been a consistent supporter and co-sponsor of pro-environment legislation, serving as a strong advocate for the environment. In the Illinois Senate, then State Sen. Obama earned a 100 percent “Environmental Voting Record Award” from the Illinois Environmental Council in 2003, which highlights his commitment to the environment at every step of his political career.

http://lcv.org/obama/obama-facts.html

And this is what they had to say about McCain and his relations to environmental change:

While the League of Conservation Voters recognizes Sen. John McCain is a candidate who is willing to engage in discussions on global warming, energy, and the environment, he repeatedly clings to outdated policies and flip-flops on core environmental issues. In his 25 years in Congress, McCain has faced 294 crucial environmental votes and he voted in favor of the environment only 71 times -- earning a lifetime score from LCV of just 24 percent.
In 2007, Sen. McCain scored 0 percent, due to missing all 15 votes scored, including the key vote on repealing tax giveaways to Big Oil -- a measure that failed by just one vote.1 This year, instead of exerting leadership on the key energy challenges facing the nation, Sen. McCain has offered a series of harmful policy proposals recycled from the Bush administration including an massive expansion of offshore drilling and major tax breaks for oil companies.

http://lcv.org/obama/mccain-facts.html

Although I do think that the LCV can be somewhat bias and it is clear which party they are more likely to support, it is easy to understand why. Not only do they support their candidates, they are endorsed by them also. If you go on their 2008 Endorsements Site, it is easy to see how they aggressively "craft a pro-environment Congress".