“Throughout my life, I have been a consistent voice for preserving and promoting the environment. We all have to live and breathe the same air and drink the same water. We all want open space, vibrant wildlife and a healthy ecosystem. My dedication to the environment dates back to the 1980’s when my wife and I organized a curbside recycling program in my hometown of Wheaton, one that continues to this day.”

Peter Roskam, from his campaign website

Curbside recycling to protect the vibrant wildlife and healthy ecosystem of Wheaton. Isn’t that special.

Peter Roskam is fond of portraying himself as an environmentalist, but a close look at his record since coming to Congress paints a different picture.

The League of Conservation Voters last month released its 2007 National Environmental Scorecard. The scorecard, which has been produced every year since 1970, assesses members of Congress based upon their voting records on legislation related to the environment, clean energy, and global warming.

One would think that Roskam, with his “dedication to the environment” would have scored pretty high.

In fact, he did not. Truth is, Roskam’s score was was quite poor, a miserable 15%.

How did Roskam score so low? Essentially by doing what he always does - voting according to the wishes of the oil companies and other big corporations that fund his campaigns and whose interests he places above anything else. The full list of Roskam’s votes scored by the League is here.

Most notably, perhaps, Roskam voted against the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, H.R. 6, on 12/6/2007 . This bill raised Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for automobiles to 35 mpg by 2020, increased fuel efficiency standards for a variety of household appliances and industrial equipment, and promoted the production of clean renewable fuels. Roskam and other Republicans opposed the bill because of Democratic efforts to make it budget neutral by reimposing taxes on big oil companies previously cut by the Bush administration and also because it imposed a renewable sources requirement of 15% for utilities in power generation. It later passed and was signed into law with these provisions stripped out. Roskam has received substantial campaign contributions during the present cycle from both the electric utilities and oil and gas industries.

We are facing environmental catastrophe in the coming century and we cannot afford to retain legislators who resist efforts to promote change out of concern for corporate profits. Roskam must be shown the door this fall. Curbside recycling in Wheaton isn’t going to save this planet for our children.