2 Different Views Of Gop Congress Low Marks On Environment, High On Property Rights

Depending on your point of view or political bent, Northwest congressional Republicans spent 1995 either wrecking the environment or defending private property rights.

Those wildly different views come from two special interest groups: the League of Conservation Voters and the League of Private Property Voters.

Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., led criticism by the region’s GOP congressional delegation of a League of Conservation Voters report in which the 1995 Congress was given the worst environmental rating of any in the past 25 years. The report rated individual representatives and senators from 0 to 100 and was especially harsh on Western lawmakers.

“The report is filled with political rhetoric, and I don’t give the league any credibility as a responsible environmental group because they’re looking at issues in a politically biased way,” Nethercutt said after he had scored a zero.

Sens. Larry Craig and Dirk Kempthorne, Idaho Republicans, also received zeros for their 1995 environmental votes. So did Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, and Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., was the only regional exception, scoring a perfect 100.

On the other hand, the League of Private Property Voters awarded Chenoweth and Northwest GOP senators perfect 100s for their votes on bills affecting private property rights. Nethercutt received an 80, also making him a “champion’ of private property rights. Murray scored zero.

“This Congress has definitely been more responsive than the previous one on private property issues,” said Chuck Cushman, chairman of the League of Private Property Voters.

Cushman, who also is executive director of the American Land Rights Association (ALRA), said environmental groups had much more money to get their message out.

“The ALRA has a budget of only about $300,000 a year, so it’s a little bit like David and Goliath,” he said.

Keith Rupp, a Chenoweth spokesman, said his boss’s zero environmental rating reflects the extremist agenda of the League of Conservation Voters.

But that group’s president, Deb Callahan, said many Western politicians scored poorly because they voted on controversial issues before talking with constituents.

“There’s a perception that the West is not interested in old-growth forests, sustainable grazing and watersheds, but you’ll find that even loggers in rural Washington have a keen interest in maintaining the quality of resources,” Callahan said.

“Time’s going to catch up with the Western delegation, and I think Ron Wyden’s victory is the first sign of that,” she said, referring to the newly elected Democratic senator from Oregon who received a 100 rating from the league for his House votes in 1995.

But Callahan’s remarks drew quick criticism from the Northwest GOP delegation.

“This is a group that believes there should be no timber harvest at all and thinks you shouldn’t cut down one twig,’ said Heidi Kelly, Gorton’s press secretary. “They think utilizing the natural resource base shouldn’t happen, but the Northwest is heavily dependent on the wise use of natural resources.”

The League of Conservation Voters compiled its 1995 House ratings based on 12 votes on issues such as clean water, logging and the role of the Environmental Protection Agency. Endangered species listings, drinking water and mining law were among the 14 measures included in the Senate scores.

Callahan said the 1995 scorecard is the most polarized ever between Republicans and Democrats.

While Democrats scored an average of 89 in the Senate and 76 in the House, Republicans averaged only 11 in the Senate and 15 in the House. There was only one Democrat among the 111 representatives and 24 senators who received zeros.

Other GOP staffers criticized the way the league calculated its scores.

“A lot of the votes they chose are very close,” said Bryan Wilkes, Craig’s press secretary. “It looks like they specifically chose party-line votes to do a number on Republicans.”

The League of Conservation Voters political action committee generally favors Democrats. It funneled more than $776,000 to 155 Democrats, nine Republicans and one independent in the 1994 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

While the league didn’t donate to Tom Foley or to Nethercutt in their 5th Congressional District race, it did give $6,000 to Democrat Rep. Jay Inslee in his losing campaign against Republican Doc Hastings in Washington’s 4th Congressional District. It also gave $5,000 to Democrat Ron Sims in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Gorton.

, DataTimes MEMO: Full environmental scores are on the World Wide Web at http://www.econet.org/lcv/