On Tuesday, the League of Conservation Voters named the first two members of the “Dirty Dozen” list of the 12 worst members of Congress on environmental issues.
The first additions to the 2008 Dirty Dozen are Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI09).
We all know where Inhofe stands on the environment. If you can justify ignoring the threat of global warming by claiming it is a scam to raise the Weather Channel’s ratings, then you can justify voting against any environmental protections. However, I was very glad to see the LCV recognize that Joe Knollenberg is in the same class as Inhofe.
You may not have heard of Joe Knollenberg. He is the Republican Ranking Member of an Appropriations Sub Committee, and brags about all the money he has “secured” for local interests, taking advantage of earmarks, on his website. But his record on issues important to 9th district voters is atrocious. The LCV gives him a lifetime score of just 7%.
In fact, an amendment that bans the EPA from hosting educational seminars about global warming is known as the “Knollenberg Amendment”.
MI-09 is arguably the most progressive district in Michigan. Polling on social issues shows that 9th District voters stand with us on a woman’s right to choose, stem cell research, protecting our environment for future generations, and moving in a new direction. It is about time for us to get a new Representative in Congress!
The LCV adding Knollenberg to the Dirty Dozen list was the earliest any member of Congress has been targeted by the group. This isn’t the first early buzz we’ve seen in MI-09 however. The AFL-CIO announced their earliest ever endorsement for Democratic candidate Gary Peters.
For more early buzz, yesterday Peters for Congress announced raising $217k from over 430 individuals in just 6 weeks of campaigning. Over $41k came from ActBlue, where the average donation was under $250.
Everything about this district seems to be moving quickly…before Gary even announced he would run for Congress, Knollenberg was already attacking him.
MI-09 will be one of the hottest races in 2008.
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What was the 2006 score from them? Didn’t they oust all of their Republican targets except one? And there were like one or two Democrats on the list who survived? Anyone have any numbers?