Senator James Inhofe and Congressman Joe Knollenberg have been singled out by the League of Conservation Voters as the top-two offenders in their bi-annual "dirty dozen" rating of politicians.

According to the League, these two guys are so anti-environment they deserve early mention (the other 10 members of the Dirty Dozen will be named in the coming months):

Senator Inhofe and Representative Knollenberg were named to the Dirty Dozen so early because they are two of the biggest opponents in Congress when it comes to making progress on global warming and clean energy.

In 2006, the League's efforts helped defeat 9 of 13 members of their so-called Dirty Dozen.

LCV's trademark Dirty Dozen program targets members of Congress — regardless of party affiliation — who consistently vote against the environment and are up for re-election in races where LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome.  Since the Dirty Dozen was launched in 1996, LCV has defeated more than half of the candidates named to the list.

In case you wonder why Inhofe and Knollenberg deserve to be singled out, here's what the League had to say about their voting records:

As Ranking Member and Former Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Jim Inhofe has earned his place at the top of the Dirty Dozen for consistently voting against important environmental protections.  In fact, Sen. Inhofe doesn’t even believe the world’s best scientists on global warming.  This belief puts Sen. Inhofe at odds with President Bush and members of his own party.  When it comes to his voting record, he has voted against any amount of progress on addressing global warming pollution or investing in clean, renewable energy.  Sen. Inhofe not only continues to vote against policies to set America on a cleaner, more sustainable energy path, but he has vowed to filibuster any climate change-related legislation that comes to the Senate floor.  In addition, Sen. Inhofe has frequently voted on the side of polluters, not for the health and safety of Oklahoma families.  Since 2001, Senator Inhofe has taken $636,965 from polluting energy interests.

While Rep. Knollenberg calls himself an environmentalist saying that “protecting, preserving, and providing for the health of our environment is one of his top priorities,” his record paints a much different picture.  Rep. Knollenberg has repeatedly voted for corporate polluters and against environmental protections, earning him a lifetime LCV score of only 7 percent. Rep. Knollenberg has strongly opposed all attempts to raise fuel economy standards for cars and trucks. In 1998 and 1999, Knollenberg attached a rider known as 'the Knollenberg amendment' to congressional budget appropriation bills to prevent government agencies from doing anything that would regulate global warming pollution, including forbidding the EPA from holding educational seminars about global warming. In August 2007, he voted against a provision that would increase the amount of renewable energy produced in the United States…Since 2001, Rep. Knollenberg has taken $642,388 from polluting energy interests.

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