How we calculated these scores
The VISION Scorecard assesses the oil and gas records of California legislators. The scorecard rewards legislative actions that prioritize public health and climate justice principles and penalizes legislative actions that prioritize oil and gas industry interests and profits. The biggest factor in legislators’ scores is their voting record. The Scorecard includes critical oil and gas bills considered during the last decade that received at least one house vote. The scorecard considers how each legislator voted on the bills in committee and/or on the floor.
This scorecard represents a comprehensive analysis of legislative voting records during each legislator’s entire time in office; in the VISION Scorecard – as in life – when it comes to the health of our environment and our communities, every action counts. However, recognizing that legislators, their priorities, and the political landscape changes over time, the Scorecard weights recent votes more heavily. VISION plans to update this scorecard annually, and will continue to weight recent bills more heavily than older bills.
The VISION Scorecard also penalizes legislators who accepted at least $10,000 in direct campaign contributions from one or more oil and gas companies and/or industry trade groups. By accepting fossil fuel contributions, legislators imply support for the industry, create a perceived or actual conflict of interest, and may feel compelled to prioritize industry profits over public health. As such, VISION applauds legislators who take the “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.” Violations of that pledge are an especially egregious affront to ethical standards and political integrity, earning a heavy penalty on the VISION Scorecard.
A complete breakdown of legislators’ scores by voting record, campaign contributions, and pledge violations is available in this spreadsheet.
Legislative Bills that determined the scores
2019-2020
AB345 (Muratsuchi) -- Would have required CalGEM to establish setbacks from homes, schools, and playgrounds to new oil and gas wells.
AB1057 (Limon) -- Changes the name and mission of DOGGR away from fossil fuel production toward public health and environmental quality. (Signed into law)
SB551 (Jackson) -- Strengthens reporting requirements for abandoned and potentially hazardous oil wells (Signed into law)
2017-2018
AB1646 (Muratsuchi) -- Created a public alert system to notify residents in the event of a refinery safety breach. (Signed into law)
AB3146 (Holden) -- Would have created emissions testing for ‘orphan wells’ near buildings. (Died Assembly)
SB57 (Stern) -- Would have delayed re-opening the Aliso Canyon facility until full analysis could be done on causes of an earlier methane leak. (Died Senate)
2015-2016
SB248 (Pavley) -- Would have limited use of harmful chemicals in oil and gas operations and shut down illegal injection wells. (Died Assembly)
SB380 (Pavley) -- Created a study to evaluate the long-term viability of the Aliso Canyon site, and strengthened DOGGR monitoring requirements. (Signed into law)
AB356 (Williams) -- Would have protected aquifers from pollution by injection wells. (Died Assembly)
SB454 (Allen) -- Would have established ground rules to protect aquifers from wastewater caused by oil and gas extraction. (Died Senate)
2013-2014
AB288 (Levine) -- Would have required oil operators to demonstrate that fracking operations would not negatively impact public health prior to receiving a fracking permit. (Gutted and amended after failing in Assembly)
AB269 (Stone & Williams) -- Would have required operators to obtain wastewater permits prior to fracking an oil or gas well. (Died Assembly)
AB1323 (Mitchell) -- Would have established a fracking moratorium pending the completion of a state study on the impacts of fracking. (Died Assembly)
SB1132 (Mitchell, Leno) -- Would have suspended fracking operations until the completion of an Environmental Impact Report on the impacts of fracking. (Died Senate)
SB1281 (Pavley) -- Limits operators' consumption of water to produce oil during drought emergencies and establishes new disclosure requirements on wastewater disposal. (Signed into law)