The Clean Air Act — the key federal tool that can cut the pollution that causes global warming — is under attack.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, is expected to offer an amendment on January 20 that would stop the Obama administration from using the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The vote on the amendment is expected to be close, but with your help, it’s one we can win. Please stand up for the Clean Air Act today by asking your senators to vote NO on the Murkowski amendment.
Last month, the Obama administration finalized its formal conclusion that global warming substantially endangers the health and well being of the public. Because of this endangerment finding, the administration is now required to move forward with sensible regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But Senator Murkowski’s amendment would reverse this endangerment finding. Her amendment represents an attack on an existing law, an attack on science, and an attack on efforts to strengthen our economy by transitioning to clean energy.
The amendment is also an attack on the millions of people — including her own constituents in Alaska, where glaciers are disintegrating and permafrost melt is causing property damage — who will be harmed by climate change if we don’t rapidly cut emissions.
Congress should be working to find smart, creative new ways to reduce emissions, but instead Senator Murkowski is trying to roll back the most important existing tool at the federal level. We need your help to defeat this wrongheaded amendment so we can go back to advocating climate solutions.
The Senate vote on January 20 will be a defining moment in the fight for clean energy and a healthy climate. Please help change the outcome of the vote by taking action today.
With you in the fight for climate justice,
Erich Pica
President, Friends of the Earth
P.S. Senator Murkowski explains her behavior by claiming the Clean Air Act threatens the economy, but the exact opposite is true. Transitioning to clean energy and the green economy of the future as the Clean Air Act requires won’t just create millions of new jobs, it will also prevent the economic devastation certain to be caused by climate change impacts if global warming continues unabated.
Read Full Post »
