©2025 League of Conservation Voters
1980 Scorecard Vote
232
131
70
Issues
S. 1308. The vote is on the motion to recommit and therefore kill the bill creating an Energy Mobilization Board (EMB). The EMB, as approved by the House-Senate Conference Committee, would have had the power to override federal, state and local laws regarding health, safety or the environment which stood in the way of energy projects. The bill also established a “fast track” procedure which let the EMB ride roughshod over the rights of local citizens and governments seeking to assess the true merits of these projects.
Environmentalists viewed the final version of the EMB as a disaster. They had supported an innovative series of proposals to cut red tape in the Senate, but the Conference had rejected these in favor of the override provision. Fortunately many other groups were also appalled by the bill. State and local governments, along with most conservatives, opposed the concentration of so much federal power in one agency run by unelected bureaucrats. Many others feared that Constitutional problems created by the EMB would result in even more delay. Opponents began sporting buttons that read “Even More Bureaucracy.” The Administration lobbied hard in favor of the bill, making this one of its top priorities. The motion to recommit was adopted 232-131. June 27, 1980. YES is the correct vote.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters