Lifetime LCV Rating = 18% 

View Jim Talent's Race At A Glance page

Jim Talent served four terms in Congress, from 1993 -- 2000. He left office in 2000 to run unsuccessfully for governor. During his eight years in Congress, Talent voted against stronger environmental protections over 80 percent of the time. His past record in the House proves that Missouri families cannot rely on him to vote to protect their environment in the Senate.

Talent consistently voted against protecting water quality
Despite water quality and enforcement challenges facing Missouri, Talent has repeatedly voted against improved water quality protection. In 1996 he voted to slash the Environmental Protection Agency's budget for FY 1996 by almost 10%, and in 1993 voted to undermine sewage treatment by cutting $90 million from a proposed increase. In addition, Talent has voted to limit the EPA's ability to protect Missouri's waters, including his vote for the "Dirty Water Bill", which would have relaxed federal water pollution regulations, weakened treatment requirements for toxic pollution, and removed federal protection for wetlands.  

According to EPA's 1998 Report to Congress, 47% of Missouri's river miles studied by the state do not meet water quality standards. Sediment and nutrients are major sources of stream impairment, likely from urban and agricultural runoff.  In addition, Missouri has a high number of facilities which discharge pollutants into water which do not have current discharge permits, or are in significant noncompliance with their permits. As of January 2000, 35 major polluters in Missouri were operating with expired permits, and from October 1998 �ember 1999, 68 of Missouri's major facilities were in significant noncompliance. Missouri ranked 7th in the US in the percent of major facilities in significant noncompliance.

Talent voted against cleanup of Mercury
Despite clear health risks to the women and children of Missouri, Talent voted against the cleanup of mercury from power plants in 1998. Exposure to mercury can affect the nervous system, kidneys and liver, particularly in very young children. Municipal incinerators and power plants are responsible for a large portion of Missouri's mercury emissions which ranked 11th in the nation for total power plant emissions for mercury in 1998. Because of high mercury levels, there is a statewide fish advisory for largemouth bass. Bass over 12�ould not be eaten by pregnant or nursing women, or children under 12. 

Protecting Polluters
Talent has consistently voted to weaken the Superfund program that helps clean up contaminated sites. In 2000, Talent voted for a bill that would have weakened the laws that require polluters to pay for cleanup of these toxic waste sites. The bill would have exempted some businesses from cleanup liability and imposed new restrictions on the EPA to make it more difficult for them to enforce the laws. In 1996, he again voted to weaken the principle that polluters should pay, voting to allow reimbursement of responsible parties with funds that could otherwise be used to cleanup additional sites. Also, in 1993, he voted to divert $1.2 billion from the Superfund programs and eliminate the requirement for treating hazardous waste, choosing instead to use zoning laws and other restrictions to fence the waste off from the public.  

Missouri has 18 Superfund sites, including nine which have contaminated, or threaten to contaminate, drinking water. Currently, five of the seven most hazardous sites are undergoing studies to determine the extent of contamination and possible remedies, and construction of the remedy has only begun at one of these sites. 

The State
Since 1900, Missouri has been a political bellwether, voting for every presidential victor but one--Eisenhower in 1956. From the 1960s to the 1990s the state mirrored national trends as congressional politics shifted from Democratic to more Republican. However, a political divide exists between the Democratic metropolitan areas of St. Louis and Kansas City and the conservative rural remainder of Missouri. 

The economy in the Democratic metropolitan areas is dominated by auto-manufacturing, airlines, defense, and agriculture. In both St. Louis and Kansas City there exists a mixture of poor, center-city communities and middle-class suburbs. In the rural districts of Missouri, agriculture and manufacturing are the most prominent industries; cattle, soybean, corn and winter wheat remain economic mainstays. Tourism has boomed in places like the Ozarks, where lakes provide a getaway.

The Race
Because of the split along party lines in Missouri and the unusual circumstances surrounding Carnahan's appointment to the Senate, this year's senate race is highly competitive. It is rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report, and the most recent polling shows the race to be a virtual tie. The environment is not yet a visible issue in the race. To date, the candidates have focused on Social Security, prescription drug plans, and the war on terrorism.