2011 Methodology

Scorecard Methodology: What the Numbers Mean

CTLCV works with environmental groups around the state to identify the bills those groups consider to be their top priorities. Throughout the legislative session, we consult with environmental advocates as we monitor the progress of each piece of legislation.

CTLCV grades legislators on a 0 to 100% scale based on their votes on bills that affect the environment. In addition to analyzing final House and Senate votes, we examine votes cast in each committee along the way.
To determine the scores, we gave 100% for a pro-environment vote and 0% for an anti-environment vote.

Each column in the scorecard table represents the averages of all relevant votes on a specific bill. The final score shown in this document is the average of all the selected votes.

A Note on Abstentions and Absences
This year, absences and abstentions are not calculated in legislators’ final scores. Although we recognize that sometimes legislators deliberately
miss votes, we also recognize that absences occur for a variety of valid reasons, ranging from illness and family emergencies to pressure of other business and various mundane occurrences.

In the end, however, an absence is not as constructive as taking a stand and casting a pro–environment vote. We encourage readers to check how many times your legislators may have missed important votes.

100% = pro-environment vote
0% = anti-environment vote
This year, a star (*) appears after the scores of legislators who voted at every opportunity on the environmental bills we scored. Scores without stars indicate that the legislator missed one or more votes on the bills we scored.
A dash (–) indicates that the legislator had no opportunity to voteon this bill or was absent.