Environmentalists rank legislators' records

TRENTON - Two District 16 state legislators are on the opposite sides of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters' 2015 Environmental Scorecard.

State Sen. Kip Bateman received a 100 percent rating, while Assemblywoman Donna Simon was at the bottom of the list with an 18 percent rating.

The third District 16 legislator, Jack Ciattarelli, received a 33 percent rating. All three legislators are Republicans, who as a group scored 52 percent in the state Senate and 41 percent in the Assembly.

Simon and Ciattarelli are up for election this year.

You can find the complete scorecard at http://www.njlcv.org/legislative-scorecard.html, on Twitter at @NJLCV and using the hashtags #NJLCVScore.

Simon said she was "disappointed" by the rating, which was based on votes on 11 bills.

The organization said Simon took pro-environment stances on only two of the bills, dealing with the sale of zero-emission vehicles and requiring public water systems to notify customers directly about "boil water" advisories.

Simon defended her vote against the state rejoining the Regional Greenhouses Initiative because New Jersey had attained its 2020 carbon emission reduction targets in 2012. She said the state's withdrawal from the agreement was "consistent with the law." 

Simon also said she voted against a ban on disposing fracking waste in New Jersey, saying "the jury is still out" on the issue until the federal Environmental Protection Agency reports that there is a "systemic issue of contamination." 

The ban was approved by both houses of the Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie.

Simon said she has lobbied Congress to stop any fracking waste from Pennsylvania to be spread on streets in lieu of salt.

Defending her environmental record, Simon said that she has opposed the PennEast Pipeline and opposed clear-cutting 600,000 acres of state-owned forest.

Simon was absent for a vote opposing the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline that would carry unrefined oil down the Hudson Valley through New Jersey to refineries in Linden.

"I also believe in alternative energy, so long as it is not cost prohibitive," Simon said in a statement.

Bateman received a perfect score on the 11 bills on the report card.  His rating was the highest among Republicans in the State Senate.

Overall, grades dropped on this year's scorecard, said Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters.

"Unfortunately, the New Jersey Legislature’s average score continues to drop. The number of legislators receiving an 80 percent or better on the scorecard has fallen in both the Senate and Assembly,” Potosnak said. "Both chambers are failing — the Senate earned a dismal average of just 68 percent, with the Assembly close behind at only 64 percent.”

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com