A recent 60 Minutes interview and profile of Al Gore opened up with how he is trying to dispel the current climate of partisan politics in regard to the environment. By pairing up oppositional figures such as Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich or Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson in p.r. ads for the environment, Gore is hoping to change the hearts and minds of a very politically-divided country.
While there have been some positive changes in regard to recent green legislation (increase in fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, creation of the world's largest Marine Conservation in Hawaii), let's face it, when it comes to which party's members typically vote for or against environmental legislation, it's still a very partisan affair. The League of Conservation Voters recently released their 2007 Environmental Scorecard that details the voting records of Congressional members (to see how this year's presidential candidates scored, click here). In both the House and Senate, Democrats largely outranked Republicans on the 2007 Environmental Scorecard. In the 110th, First Session U.S. Senate, Democrats had many members above 80%, while Republicans had many members in the single digits, and 9 members who scored a 0%! The scores in the 110th, First Session U.S. House reflects largely the same trend, with Democrats scoring very high, and Republicans scoring very low, with 47 members at 0%!
It is funny how partisan the voting records are when it comes to the environment, and not funny "ha ha".
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