Norm Coleman flunks environmental report card

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) received a failing grade on environmental issues. This is despite trying to moderate is anti-environmental voting tendencies as his reelection year nears. Conservation Minnesota released it's annual rankings. This is despite flip-flopping on gas mileage standards.

Senators were evaluated by how they voted on 15 key environmental votes, while representatives are graded on 20 votes. The score given is a percentage of votes for positions advocated by the organization on a wide range of issues, including CAFE standards, clean energy, oil subsidies, refinery expansion, off-shore drilling, water resources and the Farm Bill.

In the U.S. Senate, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar received a score of 83 out of a possible 100 percentage points, and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman scored a 33.
(Minnesota Monitor)

Last June, Norm voted not once but twice for the Energy Bill. Then in December, he voted for its final passage and tried to talk it up like he had some environmentalist cred or something.

“Passage of this bill marks a major step towards ending our dependence on foreign energy. By increasing the use of renewable fuels and raising long-overdue fuel economy standards, this bill not only makes major strides in reducing our consumption of fossil fuels and lessening our foreign oil dependence, it also protects the environment. This is a bipartisan achievement that offers real solutions to the Nation’s energy security challenges, and I urge the President to sign this bill into law.”
(Norm's 12/13/07 Press Release about the passage of the Energy Bill)

This is pure and utter Norm-speak^TM. Norm attempts to sound like he's been such an environmentalist all these years. It's actually an election year flip flop.

He criticized Paul Wellstone during the 2002 campaign for supporting higher fuel standards. In 2003 he stuck to his word and voted against increasing fuel efficiency standards to 40mpg by 2014. In 2005, he again voted against an amendment to the Energy Bill to raise the standard to 40mpg for cars, SUVs and minivans by 2016.

What is so particularly ludicrous is that European fuel efficiency is light-years ahead of us. The only thing holding us back are the automobile companies who donate to Republicans like Norm Coleman. The fact is these same companies are failing because they have refused to adapt and build the kinds of cars that consumers want. Ever noticed how many Japanese hybrids are cruising around town lately?

Overseas, primarily in Europe, there are 113 vehicles for sale that get a combined 40 mpg, up from 86 in 2005. Combined gas mileage is the average of a vehicle’s city and highway mpg numbers.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that nearly two-thirds of the 113 highly fuel-efficient models that are unavailable to American consumers are either made by U.S.-based automobile manufacturers or by foreign manufacturers with substantial U.S. sales operations, such as Nissan and Toyota.

“These cars sold in Europe meet or exceed U.S. safety standards, so there is no reason why they shouldn’t be made available to U.S. consumers,” said CSI President Pam Solo.
...
In general, cars are far more fuel-efficient in Europe, where gas is much more expensive. In Europe, cars on average get 40 mpg, compared with 20.4 mpg for U.S. cars.
(MSNBC)

Here is the actual report card from the Conservation Minnesota folks for those of you who need the details: