Here’s what’s happened since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made history by proposing to slash carbon pollution from power plants:

• Senate opponents of the EPA rule released a report calling for the Union of Concerned Scientists to be investigated for supporting the EPA.¹
• There are multiple bills on the floor of Congress to strip the EPA of its regulatory power and slash the agency’s budget.²
• A front group ran full-page ads in USA Today comparing the scientists behind these rules to terrorists and anarchists.³
• And politicians who will make it their mission to stall progress on global warming will control both houses of Congress come January.

They don’t have the science on their side, so they’re going after the messengers. And we only have a few short weeks to make sure these rules receive as much public support as possible, and are even strengthened.

Carmen, we’ve set a goal to raise $20,000 in the next 24 hours to fund an all-out, three-week effort to mobilize more supporters, scientists, and hard data before the comment period on these new rules closes on December 1.

Help fight back and push the EPA to stay firm on cleaning up carbon pollution.

Power plants account for over 40 percent of all U.S. global warming emissions.⁴ Cutting those emissions by one-third, as the EPA has proposed, would be the most significant step the U.S. has ever taken in the fight against global warming. And we haven’t even started talking about the thousands of lives that will be saved thanks to reduced pollution, and billions of dollars in health and environmental benefits that will result from adopting the new rules.

We have 21 days to show a groundswell of public pressure and scientific evidence for these rules—and stop politicians, polluters, and industry groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from undermining them.

Here’s our strategy:

Strengthen the rules. As important as the rules are, they are too modest to halt the worst effects of global warming. UCS scientists will be submitting an alternative proposal to the EPA this month that pushes for more reliance on renewable energy sources like solar and wind, which are now competing with coal and gas. If adopted, our proposal would ensure more ambitious cuts in heat trapping gases.

Show support for the measure in unexpected states. We’re rallying supporters in places where coal companies and their friends in government tend to drown out voices for change—coal states like Kentucky and West Virginia. The truth is 70 percent of Americans, people in all 50 states, support this commonsense change.⁵

Counter misinformation from fossil-fuel interests. Our top energy experts and in-house data analysts are constantly fact checking claims from coal companies, calling out the pseudoscience that sneaks into the mainstream media.

Connect experts with leaders at the EPA. We’ve been providing input to the EPA on these rules for months (it’s standard practice for government agencies to consult outside experts, and policymakers trust our independent analysis). We’re also getting EPA officials on the phone with hundreds of experts and activists directly.

Be part of this incredibly important campaign. Donate now to win on carbon.

I wouldn’t ask for your gift today if it wasn’t a make-or-break moment. Over the next few weeks, we can help the EPA begin to cut carbon pollution from coal and gas-fired power plants by more than the reduction proposed by EPA. Or we can leave the outcome to the climate-deniers and the fossil fuel industry.

It’s up to you and me, Carmen. Thanks for being part of this.

Sincerely, Ken Kimmell President Union of Concerned Scientists

1. http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=8af3d005-1337-4bc3-bcd6-be947c523439 [PDF]
2. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/211552-house-funding-bill-would-cut-epa-rules
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/06/04/the-ad-war-over-epas-climate-rule-has-begun/
4. http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/reduce-emissions/new-epa-carbon-rules-for-power-plants-climate-game-changer.html
5. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/02/a-huge-majority-of-americans-support-regulating-carbon-from-power-plants-and-theyre-even-willing-to-pay-for-it/