A new environmental report gives passing and failing grades to congressmen who serve the area.

The 2003 National Environmental Scorecard, from the nonprofit League of Conservation Voters in Washington, D.C., gives high marks to the voting record of U.S. Rep. Dale E. Kildee, D-Flint, but low marks to U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, based on votes during the first session of the 108th Congress.

Kildee scored a 90 percent, the second highest in Michigan next to John D. Dingell, D-Dearborn, with a score of 95.

Camp scored 5 percent. U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, came in at 55 percent. Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow each scored 84 percent.

"I think that I've tried to be a very careful custodian of the environment," Kildee said.

He said he always tries to balance the three E's: energy, the economy and the environment.

"Through the years, I've always got a high rating with them," Kildee said of the league. "I don't start out trying to get a rating, I just vote what I really feel is right. But it's nice to get some recognition for doing that."

Kildee, a senior member of the Resources Committee, said he's particularly proud of two bills he sponsored that were signed into law years ago: One that set aside and preserved 93,000 acres of Forest Service land, mostly in the Upper Peninsula, and another that prevented development on the shoreline of about 1,000 miles of wild and scenic rivers in northern Michigan.

"We have certain areas we should leave just as they came from the hand of God," Kildee said.

The scorecard is based on the consensus of experts from 20 environmental and conservation organizations who selected key votes on which members of Congress should be graded.

The League of Conservation Voters has published a national scorecard since 1970. Its membership includes the Michigan Environmental Council, Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council.

The 2003 scorecard rated representatives on 19 House votes pertaining to environmental health and safety protection, resource conservation and spending for environmental programs.

Camp doesn't think the report tells the whole story, said spokesman Sage Eastman, because it only takes "a tiny smattering" of votes into account out of the hundreds cast every year.

"It doesn't take into consideration any member's entire record on the environment," Eastman said.

"This doesn't even take into consideration the fact that Congressman Camp has been a leader in providing incentives that move the auto industry toward cleaner burning fuels, something that a large portion of the environmental movement has supported."

Stupak said he supported the "Healthy Forests" initiative, which was opposed by the league, and missed an October vote on the measure when his mother died.

Stupak said he thinks the initiative is good for the timber industry, which is a huge part of his district, and the environment.

The initiative will allow cutting on federal lands around metropolitan areas, to reduce the risk of forest fires, Stupak said.

"My overall history is 70 percent" with the league, dating back to the 103rd Congress, Stupak said.

Kildee was marked down in the report for voting against stricter Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which he said would have forced automobile manufacturers to drastically increase fuel efficiency standards.

The scorecard is more important than ever this year, "due to the sheer weight and volume of anti-environmental measures coming out of Washington," Deb Callahan, president of the League of Conservation Voters, writes in the report.

The 2003 scorecard is a reflection of two dominant political forces in the nation's capital, Callahan stated, "The calculated and sustained effort of the majority (Republican) party leadership in the 108th Congress to dismantle, subvert or weaken 35 years of progressive environmental policy at the behest of corporate interests," and "the public and procedural efforts of the minority (Democratic) party and moderate Republicans to halt this erosion."

Kildee agreed.

He said Democrats can't do much to advance environmental protections because they're busy trying to stop a Bush administration assault on the environment.

"We're like the Dutch person with his finger in the dike, trying to hold back the deluge," he said.

- Jeff Kart covers politics and the environment for The Times. He can be reached at 894-9639.