Senators score well on environment

Tuesday, June 22, 1999 | 11:44 a.m.

Nevada's two senators ranked above the national average at 70 percent on the annual League of Conservation Voters environmental scorecard for last year, while the two House members ranked below the average at 30 percent.

The average score was 45 percent.

The league annually rates each state's delegation. As the ranking minority member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is in the spotlight this year, the league report said. Reid and Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., defended the environment when it comes to nuclear waste, public lands protection and environmental funding but failed to support mining reforms.

Rep. Jim Gibbons and former Rep. John Ensign, both Republicans, got a 28 and 34, respectively, on the scorecard. Ensign lost the House seat to Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. While the league didn't score them on nuclear waste issues, both representatives voted in favor of tropical forest conservation.

The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters has published the national environmental scorecard every Congress since 1970.