WASHINGTON – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) today announced the addition of Republican Rep. Steve Southerland (FL-02) to LCV’s trademark Dirty Dozen program this cycle. The Dirty Dozen targets candidates — regardless of party affiliation — who consistently side against the environment and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome. Last election cycle, LCV defeated 11 of the 12 Dirty Dozen candidates. 

“Rep. Steve Southerland’s environmental record is about as bad as it gets. He’s voted time and again for extreme legislation that would endanger drinking water and harm Florida’s environment and economy. Enough is enough – Florida’s second district deserves a leader like Gwen Graham that puts people before polluters,” said Jeff Gohringer, National Press Secretary at the League of Conservation Voters.

Rep. Southerland was the lead sponsor of a radical attack on clean water safeguards, the so-called Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act of 2014, which would allow the continued dumping of pollution into small streams and wetlands. The legislation would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers from finalizing their proposed Clean Water Rule, which would protect waterways that supply public drinking water for 117 million Americans.  

Rep. Southerland also voted to let power plants – our nation’s largest source climate change pollution – emit unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air. In addition, Rep. Southerland has voted to protect oil subsidies, including up to $53 billion in taxpayer subsidies for oil companies operating offshore, while voting to slash investments in clean energy. Rep. Southerland also voted for an energy plan that threatened public health, hunters, fishermen, and our national security.

Rep. Southerland earned an abysmal  0% score on LCV’s 2013 National Environmental Scorecard and he has a 5% lifetime score. The non-partisan Scorecard is a nationally accepted yardstick used to rate members of Congress on environmental and clean energy issues. Based on key environmental votes in the House and Senate, it is often used by the media to quickly describe a Member’s record. For more information, visit https://scorecard.lcv.org.

In September, LCV Action Fund, which works to elect candidates who will implement sound environmental policies, endorsed  Rep. Southerland’s opponent, Gwen Graham, for Congress, highlighting how she will work to safeguard our environment and grow our clean energy economy.

###

Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters, www.lcv.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.