Need Yet Another Reason to Vote Against George Allen?

ME NEITHER.

Whether it's his corporate-financed trips in private jets, archaic stance on reproductive rights, affinity for elite-friendly tax cuts or his distaste for civil rights, the reasons to vote against George Allen are as plentiful as the excess carbon-dioxide in our atmosphere.

But just in case you need a little extra convincing as to Senator Allen's incompetence, the League of Conservation Voters has a new piece of incriminating evidence: His environmental record.

LCV released its annual environmental scorecard and, once again, Allen has placed in the bottom tier of the US Senate. His pro-environment voting record of 5% (up from 0% for the past four years) qualifies him as one of the worst environmental stewards in the federal government.

A sampling of Senator Allen’s voting record from this year includes:

• A vote FOR a bill that would have allowed oil drilling in America’s Artic Wildlife Refuge;
• A vote AGAINST a bill that would have rewarded farmers who took steps to preserve the environment;
• A vote AGAINST a bill that would have required power plants to limit mercury pollution earlier than 2020, a date set by the Bush Administration under the Orwellianly named "Clear Skies" Act;
• A vote AGAINST a bill that would have ended subsidies for logging companies to build logging roads through Tongass National Forest in Alaska;

And perhaps one of the scariest environmental votes of the year:

• A vote AGAINST a bill that would have put a moratorium on EPA-commissioned human testing of pesticides with known nuerotoxins.

No matter the environmental bill—whether proposed by Democrats, Republicans, or in true bi-partisan form—George Allen made sure that he cast his vote for corporate interests over the health and safety of his constituents. The facts are clear cut: One cannot be an Environmentalist and still vote for George Allen. Come November, let's cut his Senate career shorter than the trees in Tongass National Forest.

I’ve added a Web sticker from LCV to the bottom of this blog. Enter your zip code to look up the voting record for your congressional delegation!

For more information on the League of Conservation Voters and their environmental scorecards, visit http://www.lcv.org/.