Instead of leading the transition to a clean energy future, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and her allies are starting the new year by attacking the Clean Air Act, one of the most successful laws ever passed to protect public health and the environment.
A proposed amendment to the totally unrelated debt ceiling bill would block the Administration’s effort to limit harmful greenhouse gas emissions from cars and the nation’s largest polluters, carving out a loophole that puts polluters in control of America’s clean energy future.
And it gets worse. Last night, news broke that the original version of the amendment was literally drafted with lobbyists for the oil and coal industry.
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency released a groundbreaking finding that carbon pollution endangers public health and welfare. Repower America members have sent hundreds of thousands of public comments to the EPA, attended public hearings and rallies – all supporting the efforts to reduce greenhouse gases from our biggest polluters.
And the media has taken note. We even surprised the Wall Street Journal, which noted “the lopsided nature of this outpouring.”
Supporters of EPA finding rallying near an EPA hearing in Seattle on May 21, 2009. Photo by Planet Money NPR (Pool).
We can’t let fossil fuel lobbies and their allies in Congress derail our efforts to transition to clean energy. In the coming days your Senators will vote on this measure.
Act now to support the Clean Air Act and protect the health and welfare of America.
In 2010, our movement to solve the climate crisis will face its biggest test yet – enacting comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation that would create 1.9 million jobs across the country, make our nation more secure by reducing our reliance on foreign oil, and place America a the leader of the global clean energy economy. This is what we need the Senate to focus on.
[...] you write a letter to your senator about passing green legislation, they might not listen. Write that letter anyway [...]
[...] You would not be surprised to learn that Al Gore is putting his shoulder to the wheel against this move. His groups, the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Climate Protection Action Fund, have been speaking out against “Senate efforts to turn the Clean Air Act into the Dirty Air Act.” [...]