EPA needs Arkansas senators' votes to protect our future

The Senate will vote either today or later this week on HJ Res 45, which will raise the legal federal debt limit. Senator Murkowski of Alaska has attached an amendment that will prevent EPA from carrying out its duty to protect human health and well-being under the Clean Air Act, by stripping it of authority to regulate greenhouse gases. A strong, science-based program by EPA will provide support for carbon markets, for green jobs, and for alternative fuels production in Arkansas while Congress considers a comprehensive policy solution to energy and climate issues. The NY Times printed an op-ed Monday that summarizes the need for maintaining the authority that EPA accrued under its December ruling that greenhouse gases must be regulated to protect our health and well-being.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/opinion/19tue2.html?ref=opinion


You might use some of the talking points as you communicate with our Senators.

Senator Blanche Lincoln, 501.375.2993, staff contact Julie Barkemeyer at julie_barkemeyer@lincoln.senate.gov
Senator Mark Pryor, 501.324.6336, staff contact Steve Lehrman at stephen_lehrman@pryor.senate.gov


I urge you to oppose an amendment by Senator Murkowski to the debt limit bill (H.J.Res. 45) that would undermine the Clean Air Act by preventing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from acting on its science-based finding that global warming endangers public health and welfare.

The Murkowski amendment would improperly reject the sound science that is the basis of the EPA’s findings. In addition, the amendment would undermine our country’s international credibility right after President Obama secured emissions-reduction commitments from China and India, which along with the U.S. account for half of the globes greenhouse gas emissions.

Strong action on climate change will create thousands of clean energy jobs. Over 5,000 families in Arkansas are currently supported by clean energy jobs, and the Pew Charitable Trust estimates that effective federal climate policy would create s Americans are waiting for Congress to establish a strong climate and energy policy that will unlock billions of dollars in job-creating, clean energy investments, but the Murkowski amendment attempts to derail that long-overdue progress.

Instead of standing in the way of climate action, the Senate should move quickly to enact climate and energy legislation that will curb global warming, save consumers money, and create jobs. In the meantime, I urge you to respect the scientific integrity of the EPA’s endangerment finding and ensure that the agency retains its authority to act on global warming.

Thank you for your support of clean air, clean energy, economic opportunity for Arkansas’s landowners, and more green jobs in The Natural State.

Respectfully,

Nicholas R. Brown PhD
Arkansas Field Representative
National Wildlife Federation
479.225.1000