Clean Air Under Attack ,
The Chamber of Commerce and other groups who oppose climate action are mounting a massive attack on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) efforts to protect our health and the environment from the impacts of global warming.
Right now, we’re pumping too much carbon into the atmosphere and it’s having a dangerous effect on our climate. To help protect us, the EPA recently released draft standards that, for the first time ever, will limit carbon pollution from new power plants. Yesterday, UCS supporters heard directly from senior White House and EPA officials about how these standards are a critical first step towards reducing the effects of global warming and protecting public health.
Unfortunately the Chamber of Commerce recently released a press statement vowing to do whatever it takes to overturn the EPA’s standard.
The chamber’s attacks are bogus.
We need these standards to start to address the threat of climate change—and the EPA is not only helping to address that threat, it is also meeting the mandate it was given by the Supreme Court five years ago to reduce carbon emissions found to be dangerous to the public health and welfare.
But that’s not stopping foes like the chamber. It’s critical that informed citizens like you speak up to protect these standards. You already submitted a public comment in support of the EPA’s carbon pollution standard, but now it’s time to take the next step. Tell the Chamber of Commerce to stop their attacks.
The opposition hasn’t quit and we can’t either.
Check the world premiere of Grammy-winner Esperanza Spalding’s “Endangered Species” video – done especially for Earth Day!
Your donations help power the movement.
Approximately one billion people in 192 countries took action for Earth Day 2012! From Cairo to Beijing, Melbourne to Rome, Rio to St. Louis, communities everywhere stood united to Mobilize the Earth™. The accomplishments are too numerous to name and pouring in every day.
Earth Day Network and its partners worked together on events across Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and other countries throughout the Middle East. Our office in Kolkata coordinated nearly 700 events in India alone. There were massive rallies in New York, Montreal and Seoul, to name a few. The rally in Washington, D.C., by the steps of the Capitol, was watched all over the globe as it was streamed live on the web.
More than a day of service, Earth Day 2012 has been weeks of mobilization that are growing and galvanizing the environmental movement, making our leaders take notice, and holding them accountable.
Through Earth Day Network’s Campaign for Communities, the number of elected officials participating in Earth Day events around the world was one of the highest we have ever seen. This Earth Day renewed the work that local governments are doing not only to clean up their communities and spread environmental awareness but to actually reduce global warming pollution in the face of national and international inaction.
Thousands of students from 291 universities in 6 continents, 49 countries, and 36 U.S. states came together for MobilizeU. Tens of thousands of students have been activated through MobilizeU, and more than 5.5 million students have been impacted as their universities were mobilized.
In the U.S., our work led the White House to host its first summit on environmental education, announce the creation of a special taskforce on environmental education, and issue an official Earth Day proclamation on the benefits of green schools. Moreover, the Department of Education announced the first round of winners in the Green Ribbon Schools program – a monumental accomplishment that has been years in the making for the entire movement.
And, after only two years…
We reached A Billion Acts of Green®!
A Billion Acts of Green is a global referendum on the environment, and your pledges have made it the largest environmental service campaign in the world. It shows the breadth of support for strong, coordinated action to deal with our most pressing environmental challenges. And we’re going to take this achievement to world leaders and demand just that.
But, the campaign isn’t over…
Continue to add your commitments to A Billion Acts of Green as we make our way to the NEXT billion!
To learn more about the amazing work inspired by Earth Day 2012, go to www.earthday.org/2012. To see photos of Earth Day 2012 events from all over the world, go here.
– The Earth Day Network Team
Chrissy Elles Outreach Associate UCS Climate and Energy Program
Be a Seed for Change 
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