The House has voted to block action to address climate change, to stop actions to prevent air and water pollution, to undermine protections for public lands and coastal areas, and to weaken the protection of the environment in dozens of other ways.
Representatives Henry Waxman of California and Edward Markey of Massachusetts have released a fact sheet detailing all 110 anti-environment votes taken by the House of Representatives this year.
"This is the most anti-environment House of Representatives in history," said Waxman, Ranking Democratic Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "The new Republican majority seems intent on restoring the robber-baron era where there were no controls on pollution from power plants, oil refineries, and factories."
The anti-environment votes split the House along partisan lines.
Of the 110 anti-environment votes, 95 were roll-call votes. On average, 97 percent of Republicans voted for the anti-environment position. In contrast, 84 percent of Democrats voted for the pro-environment position.
"President Theodore Roosevelt said, 'A vote is like a rifle' and House Republicans have one pointed right at the heart of America's clean energy future," said Markey, who serves as Ranking Democratic Member of the House Natural Resources Committee.
"Time after time, Republicans have voted to leave our air and water more polluted, keep our nation more dependent on foreign oil, despoil our National Parks, and deny that our climate has a rising fever," Markey said.
"Republicans have spent their 206 days in the majority building a voting record against protecting Americans ' public health and increasing OPEC's wealth," Markey said. "While House Republicans may not be able to agree on how to destroy our economy, they are in lock-step in their commitment to destroy our environment."
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