Eco-Test Politicians : Voters urged to learn individual candidates’ views rather than making assumptions based on party affiliation.

What kind of car does your local politician drive? The next time you receive a piece of campaign literature, search out the phone number, call and ask the politician if the car is a low-pollution, fuel-efficient model. Also, if the propaganda doesn’t say it’s printed on recycled paper, ask why it isn’t. Find out if he or she has a written position on the environment. Or attend an upcoming picnic in Moorpark to ask in person.

It’s always surprising to see which politicians support what environmental measures. For example, the first city to ban ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) was in Orange County. And it was George Deukmejian’s appointees who were responsible for mandating electric cars for our state.

It is also interesting to see how citizens cast their votes on environmental measures. Liberal men nationwide, it seems, have a weaker record of voting for environmental protection than blue-collar men. Women, regardless of party affiliation, vote for environmental ballot measures and candidates more readily than men.

I learned these and other eyebrow raisers from a new bunch of environmentally oriented election guides.

My favorite is from a locally published book, “Controversial Issues in Environmental policy”--a college textbook used nationally, which is quite hard-hitting and fun to read.

Historically, it seems no political party is all good or bad when it comes to the environment. Calvin Coolidge was behind the earliest anti-oil pollution law in 1924. The law banned ships from routinely dumping fuel in coastal waters. I imagine an improbable historical spectacle--”Silent Cal” and Congress picketing John D. Rockefeller with Santa Barbara style “Get-Out-Oil” signs. The picketing never happened, of course, but the law did.

When it comes to saving the environment, the voters will have to ascertain the individual candidates’ views rather than their party affiliation. That is the message of this book, and the others itemized below.

Be sure to exercise your own critical powers, and be sure to vote. As John F. Kennedy said almost exactly 30 years ago: “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”

For environmentally oriented nonpartisan analysis of candidates’ records and state ballot measures, here are some voting guides:

* Locally published “Controversial Issues in Environmental Policy” by K. E. Portney, published by Sage Publications of Newbury Park--primarily for use as a college text--takes on the big political questions. For a copy of the book, call 499-0721

* Entitled “Dear Mr. President,” this book by chemist Marc Davenport, published by Citadel Press, contains tear-out letters suitable for mailing to federal, state, county and city officials urging them to be pro-environmental. For a copy, call (800) 477-BOOK.

* The editors of “50 Things You Can Do to Save the Earth” have come out with “Vote for the Earth--The League of Conservation Voters’ Election Guide,” published by Earthworks Press. Fifteen key eco-political issues are covered and Congress members’ records are rated. For a copy, call (510) 841-5866.

* “Voting Green” by Jeremy and Carol Rifkin, published by Doubleday, bills itself as “Your Complete Environmental Guide to Making Political Choices in the 1990s.” (800) 223-6834.

* “Costing the Earth” by Frances Cairncross, published by Harvard Business School Press, is a challenge to government, suggesting that it should enlist business in a way that gets the environmental job done without ruining the taxpayer. (800) 545-7685

Call your neighborhood Ventura County bookstore, and if they don’t have the book, call the phone number I listed.

* FYI

The Environmental Coalition of Ventura County is hosting a picnic Oct. 25 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Tierra Rejada Ranch, 3370 N. Moorpark Road, Moorpark. Candidates have been invited to come and hear what’s on the voters’ mind. For information, call 388-9061.