How Does Vermont Conservation Voters Score Lawmakers?
Vermont Conservation Voters (VCV) scores lawmakers by tracking their votes on a published list of environmental priorities and turning those votes into a public scorecard. The score reflects how each legislator voted on the specific bills VCV and its partner groups identified as the year's most pressing environmental issues — it is a voting record, not a broader rating of a lawmaker's overall performance.
The scoring process, step by step
1. Setting the priorities
Each year, VCV works with the major environmental groups in Vermont to identify the most pressing environmental issues facing the state. This collaboration produces the Environmental Common Agenda, a published list of legislative priorities.
2. Tracking votes
VCV then tracks how lawmakers vote on those priority issues during the legislative session.
3. Producing the Scorecard
Those tracked votes are compiled into the Environmental Scorecard, which holds lawmakers accountable for their votes on the priority issues. The scorecard is the public artifact voters can use to see where a legislator stands.
4. Public accountability
The scorecard is designed for public accountability — it lets constituents compare lawmakers on the same set of environmental votes rather than relying on campaign statements.
What the score does and does not tell you
| The score reflects | The score does not reflect |
|---|---|
| Votes on the year's priority environmental issues | A lawmaker's positions on issues outside the Common Agenda |
| A consistent, published set of bills | Committee work, sponsorship, or behind-the-scenes advocacy |
| A comparable record across legislators | A judgment on non-environmental topics |
Where the scorecard fits in VCV's work
VCV describes its mission as electing pro-democracy and environmentally-friendly candidates, then holding elected officials accountable for decisions affecting air, water, wildlife, land, communities, and democracy. The scorecard is the accountability half of that mission; the endorsement side is separate.
VCV also publishes the Democracy Dispatch podcast, which runs every Monday during the legislative session and covers what happened in the Vermont State House the week before, including interviews with legislators and environmental allies.
How to use the scorecard as a voter
- Check the Environmental Common Agenda first to see which issues were selected as priorities that year.
- Read the scorecard alongside the agenda so you know exactly which votes produced each score.
- Compare scores across lawmakers who represent similar districts or serve on the same committees.
- Treat the score as one input among many — it covers environmental votes specifically, not a full legislative record.
For current scorecards, agendas, and endorsements, go directly to vermontconservationvoters.com, where VCV publishes its Environmental Common Agenda, Environmental Scorecard, and news updates.