©2025 League of Conservation Voters
2012 Scorecard Vote
260
138
34
Issues
During House consideration of H.R. 4348, a transportation bill called the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Representative David McKinley (R-WV) offered a Motion to Instruct House Conferees to insist on including a dangerous coal ash provision when negotiating a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the legislation. Coal ash, the toxic by-product of burning coal, is the second largest industrial waste stream in the U.S. This provision would leave communities at risk by perpetuating inadequate state protections that have led to major catastrophes like the 2008 Tennessee Valley Authority’s massive coal ash spill and nearly 200 cases of water contamination across the nation. Further, it would remove the authority for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ever revisit a coal ash-specific federal standard, an unprecedented revocation of the EPA’s authority to protect Americans from exposure to toxic waste. On June 21, the House approved the McKinley Motion to Instruct by a vote of 260-138 (House roll call vote 411). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. Language related to coal ash pollution was not included in the compromise transportation bill-H.R. 4348, MAP-21-which President Obama signed into law on July 6.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters