LCV Announces Michele Bachmann Winner of the “People’s Choice” of the 2010 Dirty Dozen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 14, 2010
LCV Announces Michele Bachmann Winner of the “People’s Choice” of the 2010 Dirty Dozen

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), which works to turn environmental values into national priorities, announced that Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has been named to the 2010 Dirty Dozen as the “People’s Choice.” Rep. Bachmann won the nomination to the Dirty Dozen list through an online vote where she received 60 percent of the votes.

“Representative Bachmann’s landslide win as the ‘People’s Choice’ clearly shows voters are fed up with her over-the-top, anti-science rhetoric in which she continually parrots the talking points of Big Oil and other corporate polluters,” said Tony Massaro, LCV Senior Vice President for Political Affairs. “Instead of standing up for new clean energy jobs for Minnesota, Representative Bachmann’s voting record and antics demonstrate that she’s more interested in keeping us hooked on the same failed energy policies of the past.”

Rep. Bachmann has an abysmal lifetime LCV score of 3%*. She not only voted against the American Clean Energy & Security Act, which would help create over 30,000 clean energy jobs in Minnesota**, reduce carbon pollution and increase energy independence, but she has consistently spread misinformation on the dangers of global warming and benefits of building a clean energy economy. Some of her most baseless claims include:

• “I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us, having a revolution every now and then is a good thing.” [3/22/09]



• “I came away with the idea that [the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge] is the most perfect place on the planet to drill.” [8/13/08]



• “The big thing we are working on now is the global warming hoax. It’s all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.” [3/15/08]



• “[T]here isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows carbon dioxide is a harmful gas. There isn’t one such study because carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural. It is not harmful.” [4/22/09]



• “[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she’s just trying to save the planet. … We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet — we didn’t need Nancy Pelosi to do that.” [8/12/08]

“Representative Bachmann is a global warming denier who is drastically out of step with the American businesses, veterans and workers that are all calling for a clean energy economy and greater energy independence,” said Massaro. “The people have spoken and we will work hard to fulfill their request for Representative Bachmann’s defeat this November.”

The “People’s Choice” of the 2010 Dirty Dozen was decided by an online vote that took place from April 5-9. Other nominees included Pennsylvania Senate Candidate Pat Toomey (R-PA), Representative Bobby Bright (D-AL), Former Representative Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Representative Dan Lungren (R-CA).

LCV's trademark Dirty Dozen program targets candidates for Congress — regardless of party affiliation — who consistently vote against clean energy and conservation and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome. Since 1996, more than 60 percent of the Dirty Dozen have been defeated. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO) and former Congressmen Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Richard Pombo (R-CA) are currently on the 2010 Dirty Dozen list. Learn more at http://www.lcv.org/campaigns/dirty-dozen/.

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Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters, www.lcv.org , and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

*The non-partisan LCV Scorecard is a nationally accepted yardstick used to rate Members of Congress on conservation and clean energy issues. Based on key conservation votes in the House and Senate, it is often used by the media to quickly describe a Member's record. For more information, visit www.lcv.org/scorecard .