WASHINGTON – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) today announced the addition of Mike McFadden 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 cycle, LCV defeated 11 of the 12 Dirty Dozen candidates.
“Mike McFadden opposes common sense carbon pollution reductions from power plants that would improve children’s health and reduce the threat of climate change – all to help the polluters that fund his campaign,” said Daniel J. Weiss, LCV Senior Vice President for Campaigns. “McFadden also opposes longstanding pollution protections for the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. The Koch Brothers and Big Oil companies don’t need another lackey in the Senate.”
McFadden has claimed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is “out of control” and suggested that the agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan, which would put commonsense limits on carbon pollution from power plants, is not “based on science.” McFadden even cited a false and debunked U.S. Chamber of Commerce study to attack the EPA’s proposal.
In reality, the Clean Power Plan would protect public health and marks our nation’s biggest step towards tackling the challenge of climate change. Polling conducted for LCV shows significant, nationwide support for the EPA’s proposed standards, and independent, nationwide polling also shows strong support for the plan, including a Washington Post-ABC News poll that found that a “lopsided and bipartisan majority of Americans support federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions.”
McFadden has attacked his opponent, Senator Al Franken, for voting to restore longstanding Clean Water Act protections to limit pollution in waterways that supply public drinking water for 117 million Americans. McFadden also attacked Senator Franken for voting to eliminate billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies to oil companies. McFadden’s taken at least $122,750 in campaign contributions from polluting industries, including $44,800 from the oil and gas industry.
Senator Franken has earned a 100% score on LCV’s 2013 National Environmental Scorecard and a 94% 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.
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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.