The Daily Beast ranked the biggest advocates for the environment among U.S. politicians this week, and the First Congressional District's Rep. Tim Bishop came in at number 14.
The Southampton Democrat and five-term incumbent came in one spot ahead of 2004 presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry and two spots ahead of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Rep. Raul Grijalva, of Arizona, topped the list.
The Daily Beast explained the criteria used to rate the politicos, starting with looking at who received a 97 rating or better in the most recent annual scoring by the League of Conservation Voters; Bishop had a rating of 100.
Next, The Daily Beast considered how much money the politicians are receiving in donations from the oil, gas and mining industries, and how much in contributions is coming from "green" interests, in environmental policy and alternate energy.
"These donation dollars were calculated as a percentage of each politician’s total donations over the most recent term-period (six years for senators, two years for representatives), with data from the Center for Responsive Politics and Maplight," explains The Daily Beast's Clark Merrefield. "Finally, we added bonus points for politicians who are members of environmental caucuses."
The Daily Beast notes that Bishop belongs to the House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucuses; House Oceans Caucus.
According to The Daily Beast's numbers, Bishop had $2.6 million in campaign contributions, with $0 from mining, $3,500 from oil and gas, $5,000 from alternative energy and $19,972 from environmental policy groups.
our congressman is a crook.
I've been one of his constituents for ten years and he's done a lot to help my family and the families of my neighbors. He's a true Long Islander who understands our problems and advocates for us on Capitol Hill. I'm not so dumb to think that Bishop is responsible for the middle class being strained on Long Island. Like many others, I know that the middle class has been destroyed by globalization, the weakening of labor unions, and the outsourcing and offshoring of our jobs. He's not repsponsible for that. While taxes are something that ALL Long Islanders contend with, Randy Altschuler represents everything that made the American dream go sour over the last decade. His greed, opportunism, and selfishness are the epitome of what's wrong with America today. He doesn't have my vote. While Tim is far from perfect, Randy is fundamentally against the middle class. Those are his values and no matter how hard he tries to sugarcoat it, his record in business speaks for itself. The Randy campaign workers who troll this page every single day will attack me and offer the same tired talking points, but I'm confident that the majority of my neighbors feel the way I do.
Time 4 change ; vote for Randy... Tim IS EVERYTHING thats WRONG w/ Washington!
Name calling is your debate style ? So if you get it ... Vote for Randy ... See Above ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ do you really get it ?
Newsweek has just gone out of business, just like Bishop is about to. They own the Daily Beast.
I'll wait for you to prove me wrong.
check out your candidates for president and vp. if their lips were moving they were lying.
And I wasn't asking for anyone to prove me wrong about the name calling. I was asking someone to prove me wrong about the rest of my post: "Taxes have skyrocketed and the middle calls and elderly can no longer afford to live here. It's a FACT not a lie. And there hasn't been one politician that has stood up for us to stop it."
Congratulations, Congressman Bishop. As an EastEnder, I appreciate how important environmental quality is to my neighborhood both economically and ethically.
and who knows maybe we will re-elect a person who may be a crook to Congress.
He touted how he facilitated the installation of a wind turbine on the campus of Southampton College, JUST BEFORE THE COLLEGE CLOSED! Tim Bishop and Green Jobs .......the fleecing of Long Island
you guya are obviously in the pocket of this embezzler.
Tim Bishop receives an F by the NRAPVF on gun rights. Bishop receives the worst grade for the support of second amendment rights. Altschuler receives an AQ. F rating means Bishop is a true enemy of gun owners' rights. A consistent anti-gun candidate who always opposes gun owners' rights and / or actively leads anti gun legislative efforts, or sponsors anti gun legislation. Altschuler receives an AQ meaning a pro gun candidate whose rating is based solely on the candidates responses to the NRA-PVF questionnaire and who does not have a voting record on 2nd Amendment issues. Ken LaValle received an A. Thiele gets an F as well. The majority of East Enders that were raised out here have guns or were taught how to hunt or shoot at an early age and still do. It is an important part of our heritage. We firmly believe in our Second Amendment rights and those that attempt to remove this right will be met with a no vote. All East End families are not Liberal New York City transplants and we will vote for the man that supports what we believe in, what we grew up with and what we want our children to appreciate and respect, the rights of a free people. Greenest politician? What is that again? The Grinch is also green....