Your voice is needed to fight the US House of Representatives' Planned Direct Assault on our Environment
As indicated in the blog from Executive Director Scott Strand, the U.S. House is up to no good this fall. The House continues to market the falsehood that environmental regulations are to blame for our nation's high unemployment rate and faltering economy.
The good news? This is no sneak attack. Instead, we know when they plan to attack each regulation that they claim is a "job-killer". Here is the memo distributed by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), outlining the top 10 “job-killing” regulations the House leadership intends to repeal once Congress gets back from their August recess.
Seven of the ten targeted regulations are environmental standards the EPA has adopted in the last few months, or has announced plans to adopt in the future: the maximum achievable control technology (MACT) for utilities and the cross-state air pollutions rule (CSAPR), the boiler MACT, the cement MACT, the coal ash rules, and the long-delayed and still not issued rules governing ozone and fine particulates. Each proposal is supposed to get its own week, starting the week of September 12 and going until Congress recesses for the holidays.
We cannot depend on the Senate to prevent repeal of these environmental protections. MCEA is working with other groups, both state and national in scope, to fight these anti-environment efforts by unleashing a barrage of emails and phone calls from concerned citizens LIKE YOU. These calls and emails need to go to your House member as well as Minnesota's two Senators.
Express your support for environmental regulations
How can you help? Please take the following general actions today and refer back to this page for further specific advice and talking points as congressional assaults begin in earnest in September:
1. First, find out who represents you here.
2. Write an email or call your member in the House of Representative. Find their contact information here.
In your own words, let your Representative know that you do not believe that undoing environmental protections will result in job-creation and a renewed economy. Indicate that you support the regulations that the experts at EPA have developed. You do not need to include specifics concerning the individual rules (cement, farm dust, etc.) but instead are sending the message that you do not want Congress to undo the work of the scientists at the EPA who have concluded these rules are needed to protect public health and the environment.
3. Write an email to Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. Access email through http://klobuchar.senate.gov and http://franken.senate.gov. Or, call Senator Klobuchar at (202) 224-3244 and Senator Franken at (202) 224-5641.
Please let Minnesota's Senators know that the Senate needs to hold the line and say NO to these dirty air and dirty water provisions, which are likely to arrive from the House. Their NO votes are absolutely key to protecting the important work of the EPA in keeping our air and water clean for now and future generations. Again, this is a general message of support for environmental regulations; please refer back for more specific guidance as this issue develops.
4. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper on this issue. You might express your skepticism about the notion that freeing up polluters to pollute our air and water will create jobs. Please let us know if your letter is printed, and we will post a link on our website.
General information you might want to review:
A letter from the American Lung Association asking Congress to reject the repeals listed in the Cantor memo: http://www.lungusa.org/get-involved/advocate/advocacy-documents/letter-to-joint-select.pdf
A blog entry from NRDC: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/time_to_decide_protect_kids_or.html
Analysis from early in 2011: http://www.remappingdebate.org/article/job-killing-regulations-opponents-fail-support-claims-evidence
President Obama's response to the planned attack on regulations: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/obama-pushes-back-against-gop-on-regulatory-costs.php
Thank you for using your voice to protect the environment!