On Wednesday, October 25, 2023, the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) released its 2023 Environmental Scorecard, a tool that holds lawmakers accountable for voting to protect the environment.

The Scorecard tracks the most important environmental bills that are introduced each year and scores each legislator in the Connecticut House and Senate accordingly. The CTLCV does not currently score absences or abstentions; they are instead noted with an “A” on the Scorecard.

In an interview on Oct. 27, Executive Director Lori Brown provided more insight into the importance of her work and her passion for the CTLCV. Brown is constantly involved on all committees within the organization. “I keep tabs on the issues, and I keep tabs on the people working on them. Over the twenty-three years I’ve been doing this in Connecticut, I have a really strong network of environmental leaders.”

“We’re not professing to be the expert, and we’re not only about a couple of issues,” Brown clarified. “We’re really the broad-based unifier of a lot of the environmental community across Connecticut that is focused on state-level policy.”

In their 2023 press release, the CTLCV noted the Democracy Score it gave to each legislator in addition to their Environmental Score. “In that regard,” the organization said, “CTLCV is celebrating a victory for voting rights with the passage of Early Voting legislation and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act.” When voting becomes more accessible to the general population, more people can vote for legislation that saves our environment.

“You cannot divert your attention for a single moment,” Brown said regarding the CTLCV’s organizational mindset outside of election season. “A perfect example of that is, between sessions, we have new clean car emissions standards. In 2022, […] the law was passed by the full legislature to adopt stronger emissions standards for our medium and heavy-duty vehicles and to update those standards for our clean cars, which we adopted back in 2004.”

Brown also mentioned it is imperative to hold organizations like the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection accountable for their actions, so they implement ideas like the new emissions standards in accordance with what the passed legislation described.

The Environmental Scorecard tracked many bills that received strong support but ultimately failed when the legislative body voted. One such bill was SB 961 Carbon-Free School Requirements for New School Construction, which would have brought about a $25 million investment from the state that would aid in the testing and evaluation of renewable energy. This would have also provided federal tax credits that would incentivize districts to use methods like solar to power new school buildings.

Brown also noted the lack of public awareness she has observed in terms of state lawmakers and their voting records. “Everything has to come through the state legislature, and yet it’s this giant unknown to people in Connecticut. They don’t realize what’s going on, they don’t hear about it, they don’t even know who their state lawmakers are.”

Danbury’s state senator is Julie Kushner (D-Conn.), and the town’s state representatives are Raghib Allie-Brennan (D-Conn.), Patrick Callahan (R-Conn.), Rachel Chaleski (R-Conn.), Bob Godfrey (D-Conn.), and Farley Santos (D-Conn.).

Kushner and Santos both received Environmental Scores of 94%. Allie-Brennan and Godfrey received Environmental Scores of 88% and 83% respectively, and Chaleski and Callahan received Environmental Scores of 63% and 60% respectively. Only Callahan received a Democracy Score of 0%, which means he did not vote in favor of bills concerning early voting and absentee voting. To see a detailed breakdown of how each politician voted this past year, see the Scorecard.

Only one lawmaker, Joshua Hall (D-Conn.), a state representative from Hartford’s 7th district, has received 100% Environmental and Democracy Scores. A vast majority of state senators and representatives have 100% Democracy Scores; although several have received Environmental Scores in the upper ninetieth percentile, no other lawmaker received a 100% Environmental Score.

While a tool like this can assure some people that there are legislators who care about the environment and our planet’s future, some young people cannot help but feel dejected because of how sluggish the passing of legislation can be. No matter where we look, we see our environment dying.

“I never realized just how real and deep-seated that has become,” Brown said to express her sympathy for young people who struggle to deal with the climate crisis. “The worst thing was this was me too, years ago. I was like, ‘What can I do? What can I do, and how can I effect change?’”

“The best way to feel good is taking some kind of action and seeing the results. […] Don’t recoil from the politics. That only feeds into what the fossil fuel industry is trying to do with climate change, and that is by far the biggest issue that we will all be facing for the rest of our lives. Getting lawmakers to see beyond the two-year terms they serve is difficult, but being consistent is how you will get results. We make progress every year; there are bills that pass every year that make a real difference,” Brown concluded.

While fighting for the environment may seem difficult, doing nothing will only cement our planet’s death. Brown acknowledged that it is not the newer generation’s sole responsibility to vote for our planet and that older generations are committed to positive climate action. The CTLCV is always looking to work with students and has several internships available each semester. In the meantime, take a look at this year’s Scorecard and hold your representatives accountable for how they vote for our climate.