In 2014, women surpassed more than 100 seats in Congress for the first time in history; a symbolic milestone in the long struggle for women’s equality in US government. Today, in 2019, women hold 127 seats in Congress. Despite these gains, it will still take more than century at our current rate for our legislature to achieve equal representation.

Statistics conveyed by organizations like the Center for American Women in Politics and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research highlight this disparity: women comprise roughly 51 percent of the population and 53 percent of the electorate but only 24 percent of Congress. Women are not the only constituency impacted by unequal representation – our entire policymaking process suffers.

Since 2000, Rachel’s Network has made the case that gender disparity in government not only stymies equality, it has serious implications for environmental policy as well.

In previous iterations of our report When Women Lead (in 2003 and 2011), we analyzed the voting records of federal legislators going as far back as 1983 using League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Environmental Scorecard data. We found that women in Congress vote for legislation supporting clean air, clean water, renewable energy, climate action, and public health much more often than their male counterparts (and similarly vote more often against legislation that would roll back these protections).

This update brings our analysis up to the present. After comparing annual LCV scores each year from 2006-2018, we again found that women legislators vote for environmental protections more often than their male counterparts in both the House and Senate.

Climate change, pollution, food and energy insecurity, chemical safety, and biodiversity loss have become urgent global concerns that threaten lives and livelihoods in the US. If we want to make progress on protecting the environment and public health, we should help elect more women to public office, and support them during their tenure.

Since 2006, women in the House of Representatives have consistently outvoted their male colleagues on environmental protection. The average LCV score of women in the House over the 13-year period was 70 compared to 43 among men. Women in the House of Representatives also outscored men in the House every year over the 13-year period studied.

The average LCV score of women Senators from 2006-2018 was 71 compared to 46 from their male counterparts. Women Senators also outscored men in the Senate every year over the 13-year period studied.