Palolo senator tops Sierra Club's ratings
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
State Sen. Les Ihara, D-9th (Palolo), was the only legislator to receive a 100 percent rating on a biennial scorecard created by the Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter that ranks the environmental records of the state's 25 senators and 51 representatives.
In the report released yesterday, five House members obtained 93 percent scores, the highest among the representatives: Cindy Evans, D-7th (N. Kona, S. Kohala), Helene Hale, D-4th (Puna), Marilyn Lee, D-38th (Mililani, Mililani Mauka), Blake Oshiro, D-33rd (Halawa, 'Aiea, Pearlridge) and Tommy Waters, D-51st (Waimanalo, Lanikai).
On the flip side, Rep. Colleen Meyer got a score of 7 percent, the lowest among all legislators. Sens. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai) and Sam Slom, R-8th (Kahala, Hawai'i Kai) received scores of 15 percent, the lowest in the Senate.
House members were ranked on their votes on 10 environmental-related bills that were introduced in the House during the past two years, while senators were judged on their votes on nine Senate bills. The bills dealt with issues such as preserving natural areas, agricultural protection, light pollution, cruise regulation and improvements to the original bottle bill.
The legislators also were measured on miscellaneous performance under a category known as "other actions" such as "behind-the-scenes advocacy," said Jeff Mikulina, local Sierra Club director.
Slom said the scorecard is selective and does not paint an accurate picture of how legislators voted on all environmental issues. "In order to be truly fair, you would take a look at the wide range of environmental bills," he said. "If you had somebody voting against any and all bills dealing with environmental protection, then maybe you could say that person is anti-environmentalist."
He opposed many of the bills selected by the Sierra Club for good reasons, he said. For instance, one increased conveyance taxes, he said, while another posed a burden on small businesses.
Most of those receiving the highest scores were Democrats while those with the lowest rankings primarily were Republicans, although there were several exceptions.
The partisan split in this year's scorecard was disappointing and frustrating, Mikulina said, because only two years ago a Republican was one of eight legislators who scored a perfect 100 percent.
"I think part of the reason is the dynamic of the new administration," he said. Gov. Linda Lingle, sworn-in at the end of 2002, is the state's first Republican chief executive in 40 years.
Since Lingle became governor, legislators have tended to vote more along partisan lines, Mikulina said. He noted that in 2003, both houses passed unanimously a bill that did away with codes and covenants on agricultural properties that restricted farming. When Lingle vetoed the bill, all Republicans in both houses reversed their positions and voted against an override, he said.
In general, Mikulina said, scores were not as high this go-around as two years ago.
Mikulina said he was dismayed that "many individuals clearly have other priorities and, unfortunately, many of those priorities conflict with environmental protection."
Scores of individual lawmakers can be found on the club's Web site at www.hi.sierraclub. org/scorecards/scorecard04.pdf. Or contact the Sierra Club at 538-6616, or at P.O. Box 2577, Honolulu, HI 96803.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
