From the Inbox: We did it!!

June 14, 2010

Congratulations!!Last week, a national movement came together and called the Senate thousands of times. We sent an unmistakable message that America is ready for a clean energy future. Senator Murkowski's Dirty Air Act was defeated by a vote of 53 to 47. But the battle continues. Momentum is on our side, now we have to keep the pressure on! To pass a comprehensive climate bill in the Senate this summer, we will need 60 votes - 7 more than voted against the Dirty Air Act. To make sure that happens, we will need your help. PITCH IN $1 FOR EVERY VOTE WE NEED TO PASS WORTHWHILE, COMPREHENSIVE CLEAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE LEGISLATION. We will use every single dollar to help pass a bill this summer. What happens in the next few weeks will likely determine U.S. energy policy for the next decade. We must make our stand. Please donate today. Sincerely, Peter Lehner Executive Director NRDC Action Fund

White House eyes veto if Senate curbs EPA climate power

The White House on Tuesday threatened a presidential veto if Congress passes a measure to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (left), a Republican from Alaska, is leading an effort against looming EPA regulation and has 40 co-sponsors for the bill, which is set for a vote on Thursday.

"The EPA intends to take control of climate policy; take it away from the Congress," Murkowski told reporters. She complained that EPA climate control regulations would cost businesses "billions of dollars" and added that her legislation "is about protecting the economy and preventing agency overreach."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asked by reporters about prospects for defeating Murkowski, said: "I don't know. Counts are being made ... It appears we're going to be okay, but we'll never know until the vote takes place."

Murkowski's effort has sparked a clash with President Barack Obama, who wants the EPA to have powers to set limits on industrial emissions and other pollutants if Congress fails to enact its own legislation to fight climate change.

A climate bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives a year ago, but a similar effort is bogged down in the Senate.

Congressional and private sector sources said on Monday the Murkowski plan would fail unless it found new last-minute support. Even if it did pass the Senate, the House of Representatives also would have to approve the controversial measure before Obama got an opportunity to veto it.

White House officials have been fighting her efforts for months. Obama is under international pressure to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for helping to heat the Earth, while the United Nations attempts to agree on a pact that would curb emissions worldwide.

The White House said on Tuesday the Murkowski resolution would hurt the government's ability to combat climate change.

"If the president is presented with this Resolution of Disapproval, which would seriously disrupt EPA's ability to address the threat of GHG (greenhouse gas) pollution, as well as the multi-agency Federal GHG and fuel economy program, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the resolution," it said in a statement.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA had the right to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The White House said the Murkowski measure would hinder the agency's ability to comply with the court.

PREFERENCE FOR LEGISLATION

Obama and his advisers still prefer legislation to fight climate change over EPA regulation, but the latter has served as a convenient option that the administration can cite at U.N. talks in the event a more general law is not passed.

"The administration believes that comprehensive energy and climate legislation is the most effective way to transition to a clean energy economy that will create jobs, protect the environment, and increase national security," the White House said, reiterating that position.

"(The resolution) would do just the opposite; it would increase the nation's dependence on oil and other fossil fuels and block efforts to cut pollution that threatens our health and well-being."

Republican Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming defended the resolution, calling proposed EPA regulations "a hidden tax" and, like Murkowski, called it "an overreach" by government bureaucrats.

"In a big city, people are breathing out CO2 all the time. Will that affect the Clean Air Act?" he asked reporters.

Activists largely side with Obama. Environmental group Earthjustice painted Thursday's vote as a test of senators allegiance as the country battles the huge environmental disaster resulting from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

"Which senators are on the side of big, influential, dirty fossil fuel industries at this moment of man-made crisis in American history?" the group said in a statement.

"And which are on the side of the American people and working to guarantee us a clean and healthy future? We will know the answer on Thursday."

Source:
Reuters, "White House eyes veto if Senate curbs EPA climate power", accessed June 7, 2010

From the Inbox - Critical vote in Three Days. Stop Senator Murkowski from trashing the Clean Air Act!

June 7, 2010

Dear Friend, As oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico and greenhouse gases belch into the atmosphere, you'd think the U.S. Senate would be focusing its energies on strengthening environmental protections. Unfortunately, for senators like Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), that's not at all where their priorities lie. On June 10th -- just three days from now! -- the Senate is scheduled to vote on a resolution, sponsored by Sen. Murkowski, which actually would block use of the Clean Air Act to ensure that new power plants and factories use the cleanest, affordable technology. As if that's not bad enough, Sen. Murkowski's "Dirty Air Act" would also reverse new clean car standards. Needless to say, this is completely unacceptable and infuriating. Don't let Lisa Murkowski and her Big Oil buddies set us back at this critical moment. Please dial (202) 224-3121 right now and tell your senators to vote "NO" on Senator Murkowski's Dirty Air Act. We also need you to spread the word on your social networks, recruit your friends and bring it up at dinner conversations this week. By engaging your friends, you help us build the movement to defeat these bad ideas and pass solid laws that protect our environment. With your help, we can win this fight. Without your help, we can't. It's that simple. Fortunately, we know we can count on you. On behalf of the NRDC Action Fund, I thank you for your help at this crucial moment for our planet! Sincerely, Peter Lehner Executive Director NRDC Action Fund

From the Inbox: Stop the Big Polluter Bailout

TAKE ACTION: Stop the Big Polluter Bailout
	We can't give in to big polluters that want to keep us hooked on dirty, dangerous fossil fuels. Ask your senators to oppose renewed attempts to undermine the Clean Air Act!
Dear Friend, On the heels of two big fossil fuel disasters, there are those in Congress who still think that this dirty and dangerous industry deserves a bailout. And our opponents are anything but creative. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and her allies are expected to stage yet another attack on the Clean Air Act as soon as this week. For those of you keeping score at home, this is the third time Senator Murkowski has made such a proposal, and she is likely thinking that the third time is the charm. Your letters and calls to Congress have succeeded in keeping Sen. Murkowski at bay in the past, but she is clearly not going away. That's why we're asking you to help us make sure she does not succeed no matter how many times she tries to undermine the Clean Air Act. Tell your senators to do the right thing for our clean energy future. We can't give in to the big polluters that want to keep us hooked on dirty and dangerous fossil fuels. Write your senators today and urge them to oppose the Murkowski resolution: http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/murkowski_0510/i37iwdu2075j7i8n? — Earthjustice Because the earth needs a good lawyer

action@earthjustice.org

Photo Credit: Bottom: Galen Rowell / Mountain Light.

From the Inbox - Clean Air Under Attack Again

Senator Lisa Murkowski just doesn't take no for an answer. Right now, she's preparing to re-launch her lobbyist-penned, oil-company-supported, science-denying attack on the Clean Air Act -- with a vote as soon as this week. The Murkowski "Dirty Air Act," written by the fossil fuel lobby1, would strip the Clean Air Act -- one of our most proven, effective tools to keep our air and water clean -- of the ability to regulate greenhouse gas pollution. What's even more outrageous is that it does so by legislating against science: Murkowski's resolution overturns a comprehensive scientific finding that greenhouse gases hurt human health and welfare. Put simply: it would literally establish as the law of the land that greenhouse gases and climate change are not bad for people. Sign our urgent petition calling on your Senators to Vote NO on Senator Murkowski's attack on the Clean Air Act. We can't let Senator Murkowski or her fossil fuel-funded agenda succeed in gutting the Clean Air Act. Unfortunately, Murkowski only needs 51 votes in the Senate to get her way, and it's going to be very close. There is some good news, though: Senator Murkowski only has until June 7 to push her resolution through. That's why it's vital for each of us to put as much pressure on our Senators as we can this week. We know Repower America members like you can make a difference: We've already helped stop Senator Murkowski's "Dirty Air Act" twice in the last year. And with your help, we can do it again. Sign the petition demanding that your Senators stand up to Senator Murkowski and the fossil fuel lobby -- and Repower America members like you will deliver your petition in-person to Senate offices around the country this week. If we lose this vote, it will be a massive blow to efforts to solve the climate crisis and promote clean energy. And the national media will undoubtedly use this loss to suggest that climate and clean energy legislation lacks the momentum to pass this year. We're too close to a comprehensive clean energy bill to get derailed by big oil or their allies in Congress. Please add your voice now. Sign the urgent petition asking your Senator to protect the Clean Air Act. Thanks, Dave Boundy Campaign Manager The Climate Protection Action Fund's Repower America campaign P.S. As if her support for the Dirty Air Act isn't enough, Senator Murkowski also just single-handedly delayed the consideration of a Senate bill that would have raised the liability cap for oil companies during offshore oil spills2 -- trying to make sure that the oil industry doesn't pay for contaminating our oceans and coastline, destroying our jobs and our environment. Our elected representatives should work for us, not for big oil. Tell your Senators to vote against Senator Murkowski's Dirty Air Act. [1] Juliet Eilperin, "Murkowski and her lobbyist allies," The Washington Post, January 11, 2010. http://views.washingtonpost.com/climate-change/post-carbon/2010/01/murkowski_and_her_lobbyist_allies.html [2] Richard Simon and Margot Roosevelt, "Democrats' effort to increase oil spill liability stalls," Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2010. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/14/nation/la-na-oil-spill-new-20100514

From the Inbox - Tell your senator to oppose Senator Murkowski's attack on the Clean Air Act

Donate Join NRDC and help protect the planet's wildlife and wild places Explore Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, for news you can use Plug In Connect to Switchboard, the NRDC blog Reach Out Send messages in style with our beautiful nature postcards Update Use your Action Center Profile to manage your subscriptions and personal info May 17, 2010 Tell your senators to oppose Sen. Murkowski's attack on the Clean Air Act The Senate will likely vote this week on a measure sponsored by Senator Murkowski (R-AK) that would dismantle the Clean Air Act as a tool for combating global warming. Senator Murkowski's bill (and similar legislation introduced by Senator Rockefeller (D-WV)) would threaten public health and block the Environmental Protection Agency from holding the biggest polluters accountable for their global warming pollution. The Clean Air Act is a bedrock environmental law with a 40-year track record of cutting dangerous pollution to protect public health and the environment. In 2007 the Supreme Court ruled that the act covers global warming pollutants, and the Obama administration built on that ruling earlier this year by issuing clean vehicle standards that will cut both global warming pollution and gasoline consumption, saving consumers money and reducing America's dependence on oil. Senator Murkowski's bill would deny the science behind global warming and block the landmark new clean vehicle standards. If she succeeds in dismantling the Clean Air Act, new cars built over the next five years will guzzle 450 million barrels more oil, increasing our country's dangerous dependence on foreign and unsafe sources of oil. If she succeeds, the Clean Air Act will not be available to ensure that the largest power plants and factories use modern technology and cleaner energy to cut their global warming pollution. This is hardly the time to give big oil and dirty energy companies a bailout. Instead of moving backward by attacking the Clean Air Act, Congress should move quickly to enact the energy and climate legislation the country needs to build a clean energy economy, create jobs and protect the environment. What to do Send a message right away urging your senators to oppose and vote No on Senator Murkowski's attack on the Clean Air Act (S.J. Res 26).