If you want a glimpse into how reactionary a Romney presidency could be, take a look at what House Republicans have been voting for in the 112th Congress.
Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) have published an updated report on votes House Republicans have taken to gut environmental safeguards and enrich oil and gas interests. It builds on their earlier report, which I wrote about in May, listing 10 ways that House Republicans would undermine public health or environmental safeguards. Taken together, the House Republican leadership has pushed 247 votes against the environment in the last 18 months, averaging one anti-environment vote for every day the House has been in session, and one-in-five votes the House has taken during the 112th Congress. One hundred nine of these votes have directly benefited the oil and gas industry. The votes include:
"77 votes to undermine Clean Air Act protections, including votes to repeal the health-based standards that are the heart of the Clean Air Act and to block EPA regulation of toxic mercury and other harmful emissions from power plants, incinerators, industrial boilers, cement plants, and mining operations.
39 votes to weaken protection of public lands and wildlife, including votes to halt reviews of public lands for possible wilderness designations and to remove protections for salmon, wolves, sea turtles, and other species.
37 votes to block action to address climate change, including votes to overturn EPA's scientific findings that climate change endangers human health and welfare; to block EPA from regulating carbon pollution from power plants, oil refineries, and vehicles; to prevent the United States from participating in international climate negotiations; and even to cut funding for basic climate science.
31 votes to undermine Clean Water Act protections, including votes to strip EPA of authority to set water quality standards and enforce limits on industrial discharges; to repeal EPA's authority to stop mountaintop removal mining disposal; and to block EPA from protecting headwaters and wetlands that flow into navigable waters."