Democrat Lincoln on green group's 'Dirty Dozen' list

By Administrator - 01/28/10 01:46 PM ET

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) faces a challenge on her right. Now she’s getting flack from her left.

The League of Conservation Voters, angered by Lincoln’s opposition to EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases, announced Thursday the embattled Arkansas senator was one of the first two candidates on its “Dirty Dozen” list (10 spots are still open).

The criteria for making the list is having a bad record on the environment and being up for reelection this cycle. Lincoln satisfied the first part by opposing “comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation” and supporting Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) effort to block EPA, said Tony Massaro, LCV senior vice president of political affairs.

The other candidate to make the list is former Rep. Steve Pearce (R), who is running for his old seat, now held by Rep. Harry Teague (D-N.M.).

With an LCV voting record of 3 percent, Pearce probably doesn’t care all that much. (“He accidently voted for the environment a couple of times in his career,” Massaro said.) Pearce campaign is in part based on Teague's support of a cap-and-trade bill the House passed in June.

But Lincoln, who rates at 49 percent on LCV’s scorecard, could be more concerned. LCV is among the more politically active environmental groups, and the Dirty Dozen determines in large part how it distributes its not inconsiderable resources on political advertising. (The group bought $350,000 in political advertising before the Massachusetts special election in support of Democrat Martha Coakley, who nevertheless lost to Republican Scott Brown.)

Asked if LCV would spend money to defeat Lincoln in a general election against a Republican opponent, however, Massaro hedged, saying that the group doesn’t spend money automatically in opposition to the Dirty Dozen members. But he described the race in Arkansas as up in the air and hinted LCV may support a primary opponent if one emerged.

Lincoln’s campaign said it would release a statement. I’ll post it when it comes in.