Red, Green, and Blue

Armed with the knowledge we gleaned last year—that roughly three-quarters of Republican Senators doubted the human causes of global warming—it was less shocking to learn today that the websites of GOP Senators were, by and large, not so hot when it came to presenting their positions on energy, environment and climate change issues. Then again, neither were the Democrats’.

How do I know all this? The good folks at Grist put together a comprehensive analysis of the 50 Senators’ treatment of energy and climate on their interwebs pages. And the results weren’t exactly flattering.

“If we used a more common academic scale in which less than 60 percent is a failing grade,” writes Grist’s Jonathan Hiskes, “50 senators would have flunked. So as to not reward mediocrity, Grist did not grade on a curve.”

The biggest surprise on the list? Prominent global warming skeptic Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) scored an A; not because of his positions on energy and climate per se, but because his website made his positions clear and accessible. In fact, Inhofe scored higher than some of the most visible (Democrat) leaders on energy and climate change in the Senate. Writes Hiskes of the results:

“The results aren’t pretty. We found a distinct lack of information among Democrats and Republicans alike, senators with and without strong environmental voting records, and from all regions of the country. See our full methodology and results for each senator on the next page.

Under our grading scale, 53 senators scored a C or worse. Twenty-five sites had no mention of climate change or global warming. Only 60 offered an opinion of cap-and-trade—the leading approach in Congress for reducing carbon emissions—on their energy or environment pages.”

Image via U.S. Dept. of Defense

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