CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has again flunked in the League of Conservation Voters' annual rating of congressional votes on environmental issues.

Capito scored 38 percent in votes taken in 2008 and 27 percent overall for the 110th Congress.

The only Republican among West Virginia's congressional delegation, Capito was also the state's only representative to fail in the league's annual rankings released earlier this month.

For this two-year Congress, Rep. Nick J. Rahall scored a 79 percent and Rep. Alan Mollohan a 70 percent. Sen. Robert C. Byrd scored 73 percent and Sen. Jay Rockefeller 81 percent.

The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters has published its National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970, the year it was founded by the leaders of the environmental movement following the first Earth Day. Experts from about 20 national environmental organizations choose key votes each year on energy, global warming, environmental health and safety programs, public lands and wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs.

The latest report covers votes during the 110th Congress in 2007 and 2008, after Democrats recaptured a majority of seats in both the House and Senate.

"The 2008 National Environmental Scorecard reflects more clearly than perhaps ever before that America truly is at a crossroads when it comes to our energy future," this year's report said.

"In the face of gas prices that shot above four dollars a gallon, unrest around the world, and increasing global warming pollution, it could not be more obvious that we must reduce our dependence on oil," the report said. "Yet given many opportunities to vote for energy efficiencies and clean renewable energy that will turn our economy around and improve our environment, a minority in Congress clung to the failed energy policies of the past."

Capito received poor marks in part for her votes with the GOP minority against incentives for wind, solar, plug-in hybrid vehicles and other renewable energies. She also voted in favor of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Jonathan Coffin, Capito's press secretary, acknowledged her differences with environmental groups over oil drilling and other energy matters.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has again flunked in the League of Conservation Voters' annual rating of congressional votes on environmental issues.

Capito scored 38 percent in votes taken in 2008 and 27 percent overall for the 110th Congress.

The only Republican among West Virginia's congressional delegation, Capito was also the state's only representative to fail in the league's annual rankings released earlier this month.

For this two-year Congress, Rep. Nick J. Rahall scored a 79 percent and Rep. Alan Mollohan a 70 percent. Sen. Robert C. Byrd scored 73 percent and Sen. Jay Rockefeller 81 percent.

The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters has published its National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970, the year it was founded by the leaders of the environmental movement following the first Earth Day. Experts from about 20 national environmental organizations choose key votes each year on energy, global warming, environmental health and safety programs, public lands and wildlife conservation, and spending for environmental programs.

The latest report covers votes during the 110th Congress in 2007 and 2008, after Democrats recaptured a majority of seats in both the House and Senate.

"The 2008 National Environmental Scorecard reflects more clearly than perhaps ever before that America truly is at a crossroads when it comes to our energy future," this year's report said.

"In the face of gas prices that shot above four dollars a gallon, unrest around the world, and increasing global warming pollution, it could not be more obvious that we must reduce our dependence on oil," the report said. "Yet given many opportunities to vote for energy efficiencies and clean renewable energy that will turn our economy around and improve our environment, a minority in Congress clung to the failed energy policies of the past."

Capito received poor marks in part for her votes with the GOP minority against incentives for wind, solar, plug-in hybrid vehicles and other renewable energies. She also voted in favor of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Jonathan Coffin, Capito's press secretary, acknowledged her differences with environmental groups over oil drilling and other energy matters.

"She has a firm belief on energy on an everything-we've-got energy policy, and that puts her at odds with the league," Coffin said.

But the league also singled out Capito for proposing an amendment to eliminate mandatory energy-efficiency standards for new federal housing projects.

Capito's amendment would have "weakened these standards by making them voluntary, deleted the definition of specific green criteria and goals, and allowed the administration to choose any private industry-backed standard for voluntary compliance, regardless of any positive public health or environmental benefit," the scorecard said.

"She believes there needs to be some flexibility in building standards," Coffin said. "Do we want to be locked into one set of strict standards that would drive all buildings into that standard?"

Since taking office in 2001, Capito has never scored above a 45 percent in the scorecard. Her lifetime score is 28 percent.

This year, Capito cast "anti-environment" votes on eight of the 13 measures included in the league's scorecard.

Mollohan voted with environmental groups on all but one of the votes, a measure to protect funding for farm bill conservation programs. Rahall also voted against that measure, as did Capito. Rahall's only other "anti-environmental" vote was to support Capito's amendment to weaken the green building standards.

In the Senate, Byrd and Rockefeller missed perfect scores only because they missed several key environmental votes.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 348-1702.