Modesto Democrat gets a ‘worst ever’ score on environmental report card. The senator responds
State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, a Democrat who represents Stanislaus and 12 other counties, received one of the worst scores on an environmental report card released Thursday. The lawmaker called the asserations against her “baseless” and a “gross misrepresentation” of her commitment to environmental issues.
California Environmental Voters issues the annual scorecard to rate state lawmakers on their support for environmental legislation and climate change policies.
Alvarado-Gil received a 1% score, making her one of the worst-scoring Democrats ever, the environmental group said. It was the second-lowest grade on the 2023 statewide report card. Three Republicans had a zero score, but most GOP members of the Legislature outperformed Alvarado-Gil on environmental protection.
The California Environmental Voters scorecard considers lawmaker votes, authorship of legislation and campaign contributions from the oil industry.
Alvarado-Gil said Friday that the report’s characterization of her environmental record is an oversimplification that doesn’t reflect the nuance of the legislative process.
“The assertions made in this report are not only baseless, they are a gross misrepresentation of my commitment to environmental issues and the well-being of our state,” she said in a statement. “I have consistently advocated for responsible environmental stewardship, seeking bipartisan solutions to address the urgent challenges posed by climate change, including reducing wildfire risk and protecting the watersheds across my district that feed and sustain California.”
Some context might help explain the Democratic senator’s dismal score in the environmental report. She ran for a 4th District senate seat that was considered a certainty for the Republican Party in 2022. That was until a half dozen Republican candidates entered the race and divided the conservative vote in the open primary.
Alvarado-Gil finished second in the primary and ran as a moderate to defeat a fellow Democrat in the November 2022 election. She represents a largely conservative area of the Central Valley that has battled state proposals to take river water from farmers for fish in the San Joaquin-Sacramento river delta.
But her district also includes environmentally sensitive Sierra counties.
In the environmental report, Alvarado-Gil was among five low-scoring Democrats grouped in a 2023 “Polluters Caucus.” Those Democratic lawmakers refused and even worked against climate policy, the report said.
The report criticizes Alvarado-Gil for a voting pattern “characterized by abstentions and alignment with Republican positions.”
The average score for GOP lawmakers was 8%, compared to 84% for Democrats.
Assemblyman Juan Alanis, a Republican from Modesto, received a 15% score, slightly higher than Republican Assemblyman Heath Flora of Ripon, with 14%.
Democratic Senator Susan Eggman of Stockton had an environmental record of 75%.
This story was originally published February 1, 2024 at 5:15 PM.
