Washington, D.C. – After Speaker of the House Paul Ryan became the 30th Republican member of the House of Representatives to announce that he will not seek reelection or run for another office, the League of Conservation Voters highlighted how anti-environment members of Congress are refusing to defend their toxic voting records at the polls.

“Under Speaker Ryan’s leadership, this Congress has repeatedly harmed public health, made our air and water dirtier, and attempted to sell out our public lands,” said LCV Senior Vice President for Campaigns Pete Maysmith. “Congress has failed to keep the Trump administration in check, instead letting Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke waste taxpayer dollars on luxury travel and do industry’s bidding uninhibited. The more voters learn about these environmental attacks, the more unpopular Congress becomes.”

“It’s no wonder Ryan has now joined 29 other members of his party who would rather retire than defend their toxic records at the polls. We have a real shot at electing a new House of Representatives that will fight the Trump administration’s extreme anti-environmental agenda, and we’ll be working nonstop to make sure voters support candidates who will protect our clean air, clean water and public lands,” continued Maysmith.

Gallup’s annual environment poll, released last week, confirms that people across the country want to prioritize conservation over developing more oil, gas and coal. Support for producing more renewable energy like wind and solar also drastically outpaces support for fossil fuels, including among Republicans. But instead of building our clean energy future, House Republicans have passed a remarkable number of bills to weaken environmental protections, undermine science, and threaten our air, land, water and wildlife.

Retiring Republican House members have an average score of 8 percent on LCV’s 2017 National Environmental Scorecard, slightly higher the Republican caucus’ average score of 5 percent. A list of LCV scores for retiring House Republicans is included below.

HOW RETIRING HOUSE REPUBLICANS STACK UP ON THE ENVIRONMENT:

*As Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan votes at his discretion

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