Q. What is the purpose of the scorecard?
The American Energy Scorecard will do three things:
1) It will educate the public about how their representatives vote on the most important energy votes of the year.
2) It will determine who the true free market energy champions are in Congress.
3) It will hold elected officials accountable for their legislative actions regarding energy policy.
The American Energy Scorecard is guided by these core set of principles:
- Promoting affordable, abundant, and reliable energy
- Expanding economic opportunity and prosperity, particularly for working families and those on fixed incomes
- Giving Americans, not Washington bureaucrats, the power to make their own energy choices
- Encouraging private sector innovation and entrepreneurship
- Advancing market-oriented energy and environment policies
- Reducing the role of government in energy markets
- Eliminating the subsidies, mandates, and special interest giveaways that lead to higher energy costs
Q. What is the methodology for the Scorecard?
The American Energy Scorecard includes two different components, which are weighted differently. The first is roll call votes taken either in the House or the Senate where each vote will be weighted equally against one another. The second component is co-sponsorships of individual pieces of legislation. Over the course of the Congress, AEA will urge members to co-sponsor up to five bills (though it is likely there will be fewer than five). Each co-sponsorship will be worth three percentage points of members’ overall score. Therefore, up to 15% of a member’s score could come from co-sponsorships.
Q. Why are you including co-sponsorships?
Members’ voting records are only one way in which they can advance free market energy legislation. The kinds of legislation that they actively advance through co-sponsorship is also an important part of their record in Congress. This practice of including co-sponsorships in our Scorecard also provides an opportunity to increase support for critical free market energy policy that may not otherwise reach the floor for an up or down vote. Eliminating the Wind Production Tax Credit and completely repealing the Renewable Fuel Standard are two examples that fit this criteria. Additionally, since one of the goals of this scorecard is to help identify the top free market energy champions, we felt lawmakers who take the lead on critical energy legislation through co-sponsorship should be rewarded for that support. Reflecting members’ overall score to include co-sponsorships captures a fuller picture of their individual record in advancing a free market energy platform.