UPDATES

Congress:

Senate

We continue to hear that the Senate is likely to vote on Senator Inhofe’s resolution (S.J. Res. 37) to void the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for power plants during the week of June 18. Senator Inhofe and other opponents want to use an obscure procedure under the Congressional Review Act to throw out these life-saving public health standards that were finalized in December 2012—and to bar EPA from issuing any standards in the future that are substantially similar. For more information, see John Walke’s blogs from June 11, April 23, and February 16. Please contact your Senators to oppose S.J. Res. 37 and consider sending an action alert to your members (see below).

Senator Inhofe claims to have collected secret signatures from 30 Senators, enough to bring his dirty resolution to a vote in the US Senate. But he’s refusing to come clean on the identities of these Dirty Thirty.  NRDC Action Fund has launched a nationwide call for a list of those names. Please see thedirtythirty.org for more information.

House

The Gasoline Regulations Act, which we are calling the Gutting Air Standards Protection (GASP) Act, has been incorporated into a package of destructive drilling bills in the House called the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act (H.R. 4480). This bill would do nothing about high gas prices but would block several clean air standards and gut the Clean Air Act’s health-based approach to setting ozone (smog) standards.  For more information, see previous editions of the Clean Act Digest for April 16 and April 20, and April 27.

Administration:

On June 14th, the EPA is expected to propose air pollution standards (subscription required) for particulate matter of 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller (so-called “PM2.5,” or soot). PM2.5, or soot, comes from power plant smokestacks, cars, and other industrial sources, and can cause asthma attacks, heart attacks, and even death. These life-saving standards will revise the 2006 Bush administration standards that were struck down as not sufficiently protective of human health. The EPA is expected to finalize these safeguards by December 14th, 2012.

ACTION ALERT

Tell Your US Senators: Reject Attempt to Void Mercury and
Air Toxics Standards for Power Plants and Protect our Children’s Health

US Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) continues to come to the rescue of big industrial polluters, this time by using the obscure Congressional Review Act (CRA) to try to kill EPA’s clean air standards for curbing mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants. If Senate Joint Resolution 37 passes, this cynical procedural ploy will not only kill EPA clean air standards, it will also cost thousands of Americans—especially children—their health and lives.

Corporate polluters and their lobbyists are working hard to block these life-saving clean air standards. It’s time to do the right thing and protect our kids, families and communities from mercury, arsenic, acid gases and other toxics pouring out of dirty power plant smokestacks. It’s time for the polluters to clean up their act.

Tell your US Senators to vote NO on Senate Joint Resolution 37 and protect our children’s’ health.

Click here to see full action alert and how to contact your Senators.

If you are a member organization, please consider sending an action alert to your members. For additional information and/or talking points, please contact Lara Levison at llevison@climatenetwork.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Because EPA scheduled only two public hearings, supporters of the Carbon Pollution Standard are organizing citizen hearings in many other locations. For more information on these hearings, contact the regional field director whose name is listed next to the hearing location. See contact information below the list of events.

Las Vegas, Nevada – June 13, 2012 – Faciliteq Building (Emily)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – June 14, 2012- Pittsburgh City Council Chambers, Afternoon (Matt)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – June 19, 2012, 5-8pm- City Hall Council Chambers (Matt)

Richmond, Virginia – June 21, 2012- Virginia Capitol Building (Matt)

Santa Fe, New Mexico – Week of June 19, 2012 (Bob)

Contacts:

Emily Roberts, Regional Field Director: 202.548.4592 emilyroberts@saveourenvironment.org

Matt Oberhoffner, Regional Field Director: 202.650.6080 matto@saveourenvironment.org

Bob Clark, Regional Field Director: 406.549.1142 bob.clark@sierraclub.org

NEW MATERIALS

http://thedirtythirty.org/

Mayor’s Letter in Support of Mercury and Air Toxic Standard, 6.12.12

List of Organizations and Individuals in Opposition to Rolling Back the Landmark Clean Air Act, US Climate Action Network PDF, Updated 6.11.12

Joint Letter in Opposition to Senator Inhofe’s Congressional Review Act to Void Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (S.J. Res. 37), Diverse Coalition Sign-on Letter, 6.11.12

Industry Urges Killing Mercury & Air Toxics Standards With False Arguments to Resurrect Mercury-Only Standards, Natural Resources Defense Council Blog, 6.8.12

Poisoning the Great Lakes: Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants In the Great Lakes Region, Natural Resources Defense Council Report, 6.8.12

Small Business Majority Letter in Opposition to Inhofe’s Congressional Review Act (S.J. Res. 37), Small Business Majority Letter, 6.6.12

Letter
from Environmental Groups in Opposition to Inhofe’s Congressional
Review Act Disapproval Resolution (S.J. Res. 37), 25 Environmental Groups Sign-on, 6.5.12

USCAN’s new page on industrial carbon pollution

standards includes a compilation of member materials.

Don’t forget the Clean Air Act fan page on Facebook.

Clean Air Act Digest is a publication put together by US Climate Action Network and Natural Resources Defense Council. Please contact Lara Levison at llevison@climatenetwork.org for more details. Click here for past issues.