Inouye record 'greener' in 2001
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye has been rehabilitated by the League of Conservation Voters for a vastly "greener" record in 2001 than the year before.
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The organization, in its annual National Environmental Scorecard, listed the senator from Hawai'i among the most improved for pro-conservation votes.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye voted green 88 percent of the time last year.
Inouye's record, joined with strong environmental performances by Sen. Daniel Akaka and Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Patsy Mink, gave Hawai'i the No. 5 ranking for congressional delegations.
Each year the league looks at key conservation issues and tracks how members of Congress voted.
Some of the issues in the Senate included the nomination of Gale Norton for Interior secretary, oil drilling in key conservation areas and agricultural issues.
Inouye voted the league's pro-environment position 88 percent of the time, and Akaka 75 percent of the time. Last year, Inouye's votes matched league positions only 33 percent of the time, and Akaka 89 percent.
In the House, votes covered such issues as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, fuel economy standards and pollution.
Reps. Abercrombie and Mink tied at 93 percent. Last year, they tied at 94 percent.
State by state, only the delegations from Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut were greener than Hawai'i's. Lowest on the list were delegations from Wyoming, Idaho, Oklahoma, Alaska and Kentucky.
The League of Conservation Voters, a bipartisan organization, calls itself the political arm of the environmental movement. Its scorecard can be viewed at the League of Conservation Voters Web site.
