Republican Representative Cory Gardner of Colorado

Rep. Gardner's Liberal Action Score: 4

The Liberal Action Score is calculated by compiling a series of measured liberal actions (both roll call voting and bill cosponsorship) in the 112th Congress and comparing Cory Gardner's behavior against a liberal standard:

• Respect for constitutional protections of American civil liberty
• Transparency and public access in government
• Equal treatment of people under law
• The respect and pursuit of empirical knowledge through support for science and education
• Protection of the Earth's environmental richness
• Strengthening of economic opportunity for all
• Pursuit of peaceful solutions and opposition to militarism in policy

A score of 4 means that Representative Gardner has participated in 4% of our slate of liberal actions in the 112th Congress.


Liberal Actions Taken by Congressman Gardner during the 112th Congress of 2011-2012:

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Liberal Bills Congressman Gardner has failed to support through cosponsorship:


H.R. 1084

Did you know that there is an exemption for hydraulic fracturing written into the Safe Drinking Water Act? The procedure commonly known as "fracking" involves the injection of a variety of toxic chemicals into the ground in order to fracture underground shale and extract natural gas. These toxic chemicals can enter an area's underground drinking water supply or later be dumped as wastewater into America's rivers. H.R. 1084 would require the contents of fracking fluids to be publicly disclosed as needed to protect the public health, just as with other toxic discharges.

Rep. Gardner has failed to cosponsor H.R. 1084. After you read the bill, call Rep. Gardner's office at 970-221-7110 and ask him to support it by adding his cosponsorship.


H.R. 261

Contrary to the predictions of defenders of offshore drilling, expansion of offshore drilling has done little to drive down the price of oil. Since President Obama announced that new deepwater drilling for oil will be allowed, the price of oil has gone up, not down. The cost of a barrel of oil is now nearing 100 dollars. If we want to control the cost of energy, we need diversification of energy sources, not just the same old desperate search for oil. Offshore drilling needs to be phased out, not pumped up. Given the continuing influence of big oil companies over Congress and the White House, is there anything be done to move the USA away from the dangers of offshore drilling? Yes. There are leaders in the House of Representatives who are seeking who are working to reduce the risk created by offshore drilling. H.R. 261 would prohibit new leases for offshore drilling in American waters.

Rep. Gardner has failed to cosponsor H.R. 261. After you read the bill, call Rep. Gardner's office at 970-221-7110 and ask him to support it by adding his cosponsorship.


H.R. 492

It's a dirty little secret: oil companies have a special law passed that lets them off the hook for the damage caused by their regular disasters. Thanks to that special law, oil companies aren't liable for environmental and other damages over $75 million caused by their practices. H.R. 492, the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act, would remove that cap in liability for offshore drilling disasters, so that oil companies would pay for the damage they inflict.

Rep. Gardner has failed to cosponsor H.R. 492. After you read the bill, call Rep. Gardner's office at 970-221-7110 and ask him to support it by adding his cosponsorship.


H.R. 601

The oil industry is one of the most profitable enterprises on the planet, and yet the same oil industry gets a load of special tax breaks from its friends in government. H.R. 601, the End Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act, cuts nearly $40 billion in subsidies to the oil industry, ending rewards for environmentally dirty practices and restoring some balance to the federal budget.

Rep. Gardner has failed to cosponsor H.R. 601. After you read the bill, call Rep. Gardner's office at 970-221-7110 and ask him to support it by adding his cosponsorship.



Rep. Gardner's Conservative Action Score: 62

The Conservative Action Score is calculated by compiling a series of observably conservative roll call votes and bill cosponsorships in the 112th Congress and comparing Cory Gardner's behavior against that conservative standard:

• Disregard for constitutional protections of American civil liberty
• Secrecy and exclusion of citizens from government
• Support for discriminatory policy
• The symbolic denigration and practical undermining of science and education in America
• Active harm to the environment or passive allowance for environmental destruction
• Pursuit of further advantage for those in America who are already its richest
• Dismissal of peaceful possibilities and obeiscance to the military-industrial complex

A score of 62 means that Representative Gardner has taken 62% of the possible conservative actions identified on the That's My Congress scorecard.


H.R. 97

The signatories to H.R. 97, the "Free Industry Act," acknowledge that carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride are greenhouse gases. "Greenhouse gases," after all, is the title of the bill heading under which they are discussed. The signatories also acknowledge that greenhouse gases affect climate change. After all, "climate change" is the title of the bill heading under which it's discussed what is to be done with these greenhouse gases.

The supporters of H.R. 97 acknowledge that these chemicals are greenhouse gases related to climate change. But they propose to do absolutely nothing about greenhouse gases or climate change. Indeed, H.R. 97 forbids the government from doing anything to solve the problems of greenhouse gases or climate change. The members of Congress who support H.R. 97 are intransigent in the face of an acknowledged environmental problem.

Rep. Gardner has followed a conservative course by cosponsoring this bill.


Rooney Amendment 13 to H.R. 1

Thanks to sewage and runoff from runaway suburban development, overuse of fertilizers in agricultural production and uncontrolled fecal contamination from livestock, Florida's lakes, rivers, springs and wetlands have abnormally high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in them. The presence of these pollutants has serious consequences. Algal blooms feed on these substances, adding neurotoxic chemicals to water as they grow and taking so much oxygen out of the water that all aquatic animals are killed off in entire regions. To disinfect sewage and algae-infested waters, more chemicals are added to the water, and some of those have been associated with cancer in humans.

After conducting exhaustive scientific and economic studies to establish the existence of significant nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in Florida's waterways, and after holding over a dozen public hearings in Florida on the subject, the Environmental Protection Agency entered an agreement with the Florida Wildlife Federation to set limits for nitrogen and phosphorus in Florida's waters. These standards would bring the pollution that is killing wildlife and people under control.
To a majority in Congress, keeping the nitrogen and phosphorus flowing into Florida's waters toxic is more important than saving lives. A legislative amendment was introduced by Rep. Thomas Rooney in the House of Representatives in February 2011; it blocks the federal government from implementing the EPA's standards for Florida waters. This majority voted to pass the Rooney Amendment.

Rep. Gardner has followed a conservative course by voting for this bill.


H.Amdt. 88

House Amendment 88, tacked on to House spending bill H.R. 1, prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from spending any money to enforce its standards regarding the reduction of mercury emissions from cement plants in the United States. After a considerable number of scientific studies and dozens of public hearings and comment periods, the EPA determined that American cement plants release enough mercury dust into the atmosphere to kill between 1,000 and 2,500 people every year. The cement industry in America can afford to make the fixes EPA proposes in order to prevent those 1,000-2,500 deaths each year: the industry is profitable and resisting imports, which are now as low as they have been for 19 years. Those who voted for H.Amdt. 88 voted to prevent the fixes to cement plants that would protect the environment and save American lives.

Rep. Gardner has followed a conservative course by voting for this bill.


H.Amdt 131

On June 18 2010 the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement of the Department of the Interior issued new regulations for mountaintop removal and strip mining. These setting out standards for how strip mines dump the rubble leftover from taking off the tops of mountains and extracting ore. The Interior Department regulation requires that this rubble, laden with deadly poisons and heavy metals, be kept away from streams that sustain wildlife and supply people with drinking water.
House Amendment 131 forbids the federal government from spending any money at all to enforce this requirement. It allows strip mining and mountaintop removal operations to continue to poison the environment and poison people by dumping toxic slag into mountain streams.

Rep. Gardner has followed a conservative course by voting for this bill.


WTFrack!  Is there a consistent pattern?


Source: ThatsMyCongress.com