WASHINGTON – Maine’s congressional delegation ranks third in the nation for protecting the environment, according to the League of Conservation Voters’ annual National Environmental Scorecard.

The four lawmakers averaged scores of 84 percent on 18 votes in the U.S. House and 20 in the U.S. Senate which were identified by the league as being key in 2005.

“As a whole, Maine residents can be proud that they have sent a delegation to Washington, D.C., that represents their interests – not those of big oil and other polluting industries,” Tiernan Sittenfeld, the league’s legislative director, said in a statement.

Rep. Michael Michaud scored a perfect 100 percent, voting the way the league liked on all 18 votes in the House last year. Rep. Tom Allen scored 94 percent, voting against an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that the league supported.

“I originally decided to seek public office out of concern for the environment, and what my own paper mill was doing to the Penobscot River near my house,” said Michaud of East Millinocket, who worked at Great Northern Paper Co. for 30 years. “The river was badly polluted, and I wanted to do something about it. People deserve clean water and an environment that doesn’t harm their health.”

Mark Sullivan, a spokesman for Allen, said that “as a member of the House Budget and Energy and Commerce committees, Tom fought hard on behalf of LCV priorities like protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and securing funds for environmental protection and land conservation.”

Maine’s two senators scored a little lower than the representatives with each voting the way the league favored 70 percent of the time. That score was good enough to put both Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins among the highest Senate Republicans, with only Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island faring better at 90 percent. The average of all Senate Republicans was only 15 percent. The league also has endorsed Snowe in her bid for re-election this year.

“Mainers understand that protecting the environment is essential to maintaining our quality of life, our health and the large sector of Maine’s economy that is driven by outdoor recreation and tourism,” said Snowe in a statement Tuesday. “There is broad consensus in Maine on the need to address issues from mercury pollution to keeping our coastline healthy, and my votes in the Senate are a reflection of this awareness and my own personal beliefs.”

In her own statement, Collins also expressed concern for the environment.

“Sound environmental stewardship is so important in Maine, and Maine’s environment is just so beautiful, that I think it is difficult to grow up here without feeling a sense of environmental responsibility,” she said. “A clean and healthy environment is critical not only for the health and well-being of the people of Maine, but also for our economy. Our natural resource-based industries, our tourist industry, and indeed the state’s very image depend upon the quality of our environment.”

Clean air and clean water are among the most important environmental issues Maine faces, according to Matt Prindiville, the federal policy advocate for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. With Maine “at the end of the nation’s tailpipe,” with pollutants from other states blowing into the state and polluting pristine lakes and the air, he said, it is important for current regulations to be maintained. Prindiville said he had nothing but praise for Maine’s delegation.

The League of Conservation Voters has “cast an unbiased eye” on elected officials since 1970 with these reports, according to Tony Massaro, the group’s vice president for political affairs and public education. The group works with policy experts to identify votes that will have an effect on the environment. The league hand-delivers letters just before a vote notifying members that the vote will be taken into account in the annual scorecard.

For 2005, the league looked at 20 votes in the Senate and 18 in the House, and compiled the percentages based on lawmakers’ records on these votes.

Because the league is for government regulation of the environment, it generally scores Democrats much higher than Republicans.

The league focused on such legislation as the energy conference report on energy policy, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, human pesticide testing, authorization of the Central American Free Trade Agreement and the Senate’s approval of Janice Brown to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.