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Democrats get good grades, Republicans barely pass in Audobon report card

By Chloe Johnson

Staff Intern



SPRINGFIELD Mass Audubon released their 2005 Legislative Report Card, giving legislators high marks for their performance on environmental votes. The report card is a compilation of roll call votes by state legislators on environmental funding measures and bills.

According to the report, Democrats had increasingly larger scores than Republicans.

John Clarke, the Director of Public Policy and Government Relations at Mass Audubon, told Reminder Publications the report card is not a personal evaluation of the legislators but rather a way for people to know how their state representatives are voting on environmental bills and funding measures.

"We've been doing this for 21 years. Our goal is to educate voters on how their representatives are representing them on environmental issues," Clarke said.

"It's really important to know what's going on with the environment and environmental issues. The environment isn't just important for the economy of Massachusetts but also for the public health of the Commonwealth," said Clarke.

Legislators received two points for voting in favor of environmental protection and zero points for voting against or not at all for environmental protection. The scores of each legislator were calculated by dividing the total points a legislator had by the maximum possible score.

State Representative Benjamin Swan (D-Springfield), who received a high mark of 100 percent on the report card, said that it makes sense to vote for environmental bills and funding.

"I have a lot of respect for the environment and I know that sometimes we abuse it. The state legislature is an important tool when it comes to the protection and management of Massachusetts environment and wildlife," Swan said. "We have a duty to protect what we have, to protect the environment."

State Representative Gale Candaras (D-Wilbraham), who also received a high mark of 92 percent on the 2005 Legislature Report Card, said that the environment is in worse shape than some would have people believe.

"Land is finite. We can't produce any more land than what we have. When given the opportunity, I try to do what I can to conserve," Candaras said.

Mass Audubon asks that each legislator support conservation laws and funding to protect the environment, Clarke said.

"We see that the state legislature has a lot of work left to do with the protection and the management of the environment. Anyone who votes consistently against environmental issues is a problem," he added.

In 2005, the Senate voted on nine environmental roll call votes out of a total of 222 roll call votes. The House voted on 12 environmental roll call votes, out of a total of 314, in 2005.

"We get quite a few bills regarding environmental issues but it's quite possible that we don't always get to act on as many as we should," Swan said. "It's not always easy."

"Thousands and thousands of bills are filed each year and so many of them are critical issues facing our Commonwealth. We do the best that we can," Candaras said.

The following are House scoring ranked by Mass Audubon: Gale Candaras, 92 percent; Donald Humason, 67 percent; Michael Kane, 100 percent; Daniel Keenan, 92 percent; Thomas Petrolati, 100 percent; Mary Rogeness, 67 percent; John Scibak, 100 percent; Benjamin Swan, 100 percent; and Joseph Wagner, 92 percent.

The following are Senate scoring ranked by Mass Audubon: Stephen Buoniconti, 100 percent; Michael Knapik, 56 percent, and Brian Lees, 56 percent.

Other legislators did not return calls by press time.