Tag Archives: Pollution

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Stand up to Big Oil and cut air pollution!


Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

Today more than one billion people throughout the world will do their part to protect the Earth.

While you may not be able to plant a tree or ride your bike to work today, you can do something simple yet significant RIGHT NOW that will make a huge difference to the environment – the equivalent of taking 33 million cars off the road!

Sign our petition supporting the President’s plan to cut air pollution by cleaning up gasoline. Nearly everyone is on board with this smart idea – including cities, public health agencies, consumer groups, even automakers. But the powerful oil industry is trying to kill it, and we need to show that Americans want a better environment.

This Earth Day show Big Oil they can’t always get their way. Add your name in support of cleaner air!

While many of us would like a world without polluting cars, we’re just not there yet. But we can make a huge dent in pollution by cleaning up the gas our vehicles run on. The air near our roadways has high concentrations of particulates, ozone, carbon monoxide, lead and sulfur – over 50 percent of which come from vehicles.

A new plan would slash this pollution by cleaning up the gas before it’s burned in our cars. It will add under a penny to a gallon of gas and less than $150 to the cost of a new car in 2025.

The auto industry can handle that cost, but Big Oil is digging in! They don’t want to clean up their refineries, and they want you to live with the consequences – dirtier air and more asthma, lung and respiratory diseases.

Sign our petition and join others who care about the environment. Show Big Oil and Congressional opponents they are in for a fight!

If you think it’s worth a penny a gallon for cleaner air, then take action this Earth Day. And please forward this to friends and family so they can join you in this important action.

Sincerely,
Shannon Baker-Branstetter
Consumers Union, policy and action from Consumer Reports

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

New video reveals the true cost of carbon pollution


I’m excited to share with you the latest video in our climate conversation series, The Price of Carbon. This short video, narrated by comedian and musician Reggie Watts, underscores the high cost we are all already paying for carbon pollution.

From Superstorm Sandy to soaring temperatures in Australia, ongoing drought that has parched more than 60% of the U.S., and flooding from hurricanes around the world, we are experiencing the consequences of our carbon pollution now. We are paying the cost of these dirty weather disasters and other climate impacts through taxes, medical bills, and insurance rates (to name just a few). It’s past time to talk about the real cost of carbon pollution and to take action so that the polluters are paying their fair share.

In the spirit of moving forward to solve the climate crisis, it’s time to jump-start a real carbon conversation. Watch the video. Share it with your friends. Be part of the carbon conversation.

Maggie L. Fox President & CEO The Climate Reality Project

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Union of Concerned Scientists


A Huge Show of Support for the Power Plant Standard The Environmental Protection Agency received more than 2.3 million comments in support of the carbon pollution standard, breaking its previous public comment record by leaps and bounds. Thank you for making history with us.

You Made History! The EPA Received a Record-Breaking Number of Comments in Support of the Carbon Pollution Standard

 

We all understand that carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels—the gasoline in our cars and coal in our power plants—are contributing to global warming. With so much of the country undergoing drought, heat waves, and other weather extremes, many are asking if climate change is playing a role.

The latest science studying extreme weather events over decades indicates strong evidence for links between climate change and extreme heat, intense precipitation, and droughts. It’s clear that the time for climate action is now.That’s why I’m so excited to say that, with your help, more than 40,000 UCS supporters submitted comments in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed standard to reduce carbon pollution from new power plants.

Not only did UCS surpass our goal of 40,000 comments, but together with a broad coalition of public health, environmental, labor, faith, and other organizations, we made history and broke a record! More than 2.3 million citizens across the country submitted comments to the EPA in support of the carbon pollution standard.

This is the most comments the EPA has ever received on a proposed standard, and demonstrates the widespread public support for the EPA’s efforts to protect our health and clean up dirty power plants. In addition, UCS staff and members of the UCS Science Network—including doctors, nurses, and economists—testified in support of the standard at hearings in Chicago and Washington, DC. We also released a letter from 372 public health professionals who back the EPA’s efforts to address climate change.

This was truly an unprecedented showing of support for action to limit carbon emissions from power plants. Now, we’re ready for the next step.

We expect the EPA to finalize its standard for new power plants this year and then to follow up with similarly strong standards to limit carbon pollution from existing power plants—like our nation’s oldest and dirtiest coal fired power plants—which accounts for about 40 percent of our global warming emissions.

Unfortunately, some lawmakers have already announced that they plan to introduce legislation to block or delay this historic standard as soon as it is finalized this year. But I know I can count on you to help defend the EPA’s standard from congressional attacks in the coming months.

Thank you for helping make this a big success! The EPA has heard loud and clear that the country is ready to meet the climate challenge—and that this is only the first, small step towards protecting our health and the environment from the impacts of global warming.

Sincerely,

Chrissy Elles Outreach Associate UCS Climate & Energy Program

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The greatest number of comments ever received


We recently joined our allies in the climate movement to drop off more than 2.1 million statements in support of the first-ever limit on carbon pollution in the United States.

Millions of people like you sent a clear message: We know climate change is happening. And it’s time for our leaders to do something about it — now.

But you can be sure that well-funded oil and coal companies will do everything in their power to stop this from happening. And I hope you will help us fight back.

Donate $5 today to help The Climate Reality Project fight for even stronger limits on dangerous, climate-altering pollution.

We joined forces with allies from across the country to deliver more than 2.1 million statements of support for the EPA‘s historic limits on carbon pollution. As Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy told us, “You say 2 million casually, but that’s a lot of people.”

2.1 million is the greatest number of comments ever received for an environmental regulation in history. 2.1 million comments filled more than 50 boxes on the steps of the EPA. To give you some perspective, 2.1 million people couldn’t fit in all of the sports stadiums in the United States.

But you and I both know we need to keep the pressure on the fossil fuel industry and the well-funded interests that deny the reality of climate change.

I’m writing this from my home state, Colorado — where right now, there are nearly unimaginable forest fires we can see right out the window. A winter with little snow, record-high temperatures and a prolonged drought have combined to fuel some of the largest fires in the state’s history.

Here’s what’s even more alarming: Scientists say that as climate change accelerates, we can expect the risk of destructive fires to increase here in the West and all over the world.

That’s why we can’t just talk about climate change. We need to call on our leaders to take action — and we can’t wait any longer.

Join the 2.1 million voices in support of historic limits on carbon pollution. Help us keep up the fight, and donate $5 to The Climate Reality Project today.

http://forms.climaterealityproject.org/epa-donate

Thanks for all you do,

Maggie L. Fox  President and CEO  The Climate Reality Project

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Nearly 2million public comments in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Carbon Pollution Standard


Center for American Progress Action Fund

 First Posted on 6/15Friends,

Make Your Voice Heard!

An unprecedented event has occurred in the fight for cleaner air. This week, a broad coalition of environmental public health, and progressive organizations supporting clean air safeguards announced that they have collected nearly two million public comments in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Carbon Pollution Standard, which limits industrial carbon pollution from new power plants.
Make your voice heard! Join us and say “yes” to a healthier future for our children and our planet.Never before in history have so many Americans voiced their support for a healthier, cleaner future – but we still need your voice to make sure that the final version of the rule is as strong as possible, and that the attacks from corporate polluters are drowned out.
Every year, coal-fired power plants spew over two billion tons of carbon carbon and other toxic pollutants into the air —nearly 13,000 pounds for every man, woman, and child in the United States.
Carbon dioxide pollution is a greenhouse gas that leads to climate change. One of the consequences of climate change is more smog, which harms human health. Smog irritates the lungs, spurring respiratory ailments and sparking asthma attacks. Children, seniors, and those with respiratory diseases are most vulnerable to harm from smog. A National Research Council study placed the health costs from coal-electricity generation, including a rise in respiratory illnesses, at $62 billion annually.
With the proposed standard, though, a typical new coal-fired power plant would have to reduce its carbon pollution by 40 percent to 60 percent.
Now is the time for action! Send the EPA a public comment and let them know that you support cleaner power and cleaner air.
Thank you for taking action!
Daniel J. Weiss Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy Center for American Progress Action Fund
P.S. Thank you if you have already sent the EPA your comments in support of the carbon pollution standard. Please forward this to friends and family to urge that they join you.

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