Tell EPA to tighten national limit on dangerous smog pollution

Smog -- pollution caused by emissions from everything from coal plants to cars -- is choking too many of our communities. Even worse, when you look at the communities most impacted by bad air quality, almost all of them tend to be Black, Indigenous, or Latinx neighborhoods -- a remnant of decades of redlining and environmental racism which continues today.

In March of 2018 we fought TEP's proposal to install 10 gas-fired RICE engines at the Sundt power plant in Tucson's South-side. One of the problems the community faced in responding to how TEP's permit complied with PDEQ's code was the absence of cardon dioxide standards. That's right! The code doesn't include carbon dioxide standards because Scott Pruitt put a hold on the Clean Power Plan.

The Trump administration's new proposal for smog pollution is to literally do nothing -- another botched response during a time that demands radical change. Send in an official public comment now and be sure to tell your story about how air quality affects you and your community:

We're in the middle of a major pandemic that attacks our lungs, and the Trump EPA is proposing a 'do-nothing' smog pollution plan that will make it harder for Americans to breathe clean, safe air.

Smog pollution from power plants, factories, cars and other sources irritates the lungs, exacerbates conditions like asthma, and is linked to a wide array of serious diseases and even premature deaths. Children and seniors with respiratory illnesses are especially harmed by smog pollution, as are the people that live primarily in Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities.

To keep us safe from harmful smog pollution, the EPA is supposed to regularly update the national standard based on the best available medical and scientific evidence. But instead of following the strong evidence that the current standard is inadequate to protect Americans from smog, the Trump EPA wants to keep the existing weak standard in place.

Please, tell the EPA to tighten the national limit on dangerous smog pollution -- down to 60 parts per billion -- to protect Americans from smog.

We must raise our voices and demand the EPA stop putting Americans' health at risk, including those living in our most polluted communities. The best way to do this is by sharing your own personal story.

Do you or a loved one have asthma or a respiratory disease that is particularly dangerous by smog pollution? Please tell the EPA your story and why it's important for the administration to strengthen the smog standard today.

EPA is taking comments from the public on its 'do-nothing' smog pollution plan through October 1. The agency is also hosting virtual hearings on August 31 and September 1. Share your story here.

The medical and scientific evidence is clear, and the status quo is insufficient. EPA must strengthen the outdated smog pollution standard now.

- Jonathan Levenshus
Beyond Coal Campaign, Sierra Club

Sign up to testify for EPA's virtual hearings here!  Mon, Aug 31, 2020 8:00 AM (Eastern) - Tues, Sep 1, 2020 6:30 PM (Eastern)

Want to receive a text alert every time the air is unsafe in your area? Sign up here or text BADAIR to 69866.

More Information:

The American Lung Association "State of the Air" report.

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality: Air Quality Hourly Forecast | Tucson

http://azdeq.gov/tucson/forecast

Formaldehyde is top air pollutant in South Tucson, according to EPA’s outdated data - Jan. 2020

Tucson's air pollution violates federal ozone standards for the first time - July 6, 2020

SUBMIT A COMMENT: STOP THE DIRTY POWER SCAM

The Trump administration’s “Dirty Power Scam” is a dire threat to everyone’s right to clean air and a healthy environment. This thinly veiled attempt to dismantle President Obama’s Clean Power Plan ignores settled climate and health science and eviscerates the first limits on carbon pollution from existing fossil-fueled power plants.

We only have until October 31 to submit comments on this outrageous proposal. Tell the EPA to stop the Dirty Power Scam.

The administration’s own analysis found that the Clean Power Plan could prevent as many as 4,500 early deaths each year by 2030 and provide up to $54 billion in health and climate benefits. It also encourages investment in cleaner, safer energy sources like wind and solar, which already employ three times as many Americans as every fossil fuel industry combined.

Despite overwhelming evidence of the devastating effects of burning fossil fuels, and broad public support for the Clean Power Plan, Donald Trump and Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler are attempting to turn back the clock on its protections. Instead of safeguarding our health, they want to protect corporate polluters.

Time is running out to take meaningful action on climate change. For the sake of our planet, and for this and future generations, we must stop Trump and Wheeler from overturning the Clean Power Plan.

It’s time to mobilize to stop this giveaway to Trump’s greedy dirty industry allies. Tell the EPA we want clean, renewable energy that will help stop climate change, not the Dirty Power Scam.

- Earth Justice 

CLICK HERE TO SEND THE COMMENT BELOW

(Please, add a personalized paragraph so they don't disregard it as a form letter.) 

Dear Environmental Protection Agency,

I urge you to reject the Dirty Power Scam -- the Trump administration’s proposal to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan with a scheme that benefits big polluters. Instead of taking the lead on clean energy solutions and combating climate change, the United States has been lagging behind, and worse, is now signaling an about-face. This is unacceptable. 

As you know, the Clean Power Plan placed the first limits on the carbon pollution responsible for climate change from the electric power sector – one of the worst contributors. Forgoing carbon limits puts public health at risk and puts the U.S. economy behind other nations that are embracing clean energy alternatives. Your own estimates indicate that the plan will prevent 4,500 early deaths each year by 2030 and generate $54 billion in climate and health benefits. 

Fighting climate change, improving public health, and boosting our economy go hand in hand. The Dirty Power Scam would do nothing to solve climate change: It’s nothing more than an ill-fated and desperate attempt to bailout greedy corporate polluters. 

Again, I urge you to shelve the Dirty Power Scam or any other effort that seeks to backtrack on or stall the Clean Power Plan. Thank you for considering my views.

We only have until October 31 to submit comments on this outrageous proposal. Tell the EPA to stop the Dirty Power Scam.

PUBLIC COMMENT DEADLINE OCT. 31: Speak Out Against the EPA's Weak Clean Power Plan Replacement

Clean energy? How would you like to live next to this?

Speak out against the EPA's newly proposed global warming emissions standards that will actually increase pollution.  Submit a public comment by October 31!

The Trump administration is trying to roll back national safeguards that aim to reduce global warming emissions from power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new plan that would increase global warming emissions, air pollution, illnesses and premature deaths, and even potentially lead to higher energy costs—putting public health and America's growing clean energy economy at risk.

Farcically called the 'Affordable Clean Energy Rule,' this new proposal is anything but. It's clear that the Trump administration is putting the interests of corporate polluters and lobbyists above the interests of the public.

Submit a public comment TODAY before the October 31 deadline to voice your concern for the health of our communities and the need for stronger global warming pollution safeguards.

Just-released findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that climate impacts and extreme weather events will only intensify unless we transform how we power our lives and transition away from fossil fuels by greatly ramping up energy efficiency and embracing cleaner renewable sources of energy.

We need the government to support an ambitious and science-based plan that reduces global warming emissions from power plants and puts the interests of our communities first.

Write today and urge the EPA to put our nation's health and safety ahead of polluter profits.

- Anusha Narayanan, Climate & Energy Program. Union of Concerned Scientists

EPA hurt our ability to stop gas-fired engines. Tell the EPA don't restrict the use of science.

I finally received a response from the Pima Department of Environmental Quality regarding the public comments (including my own) submitted on TEP's permit to install the 10 RICE gas-fired engines in Tucson.  I want to thank the members of Sustainable Tucson (especially Duane Ediger for taking the lead), the Sierra Club, and other community members who took the time to go on record regarding this important issue. While our letters didn't result in PDEQ rejecting TEP's permit, we did slow down the process. (It took five months for them to review the comments and approve it.) And they did revise a number of permit conditions including:  annual monitoring and reporting to provide reasonable assurance of compliance with the carbon monoxide emission limits for the RICE, and a condition that they would decommission the old generators before the new engines are installed. 

Summary of their decision.

It's not over until it's over!  Within 30 days after service of this notice announcing the final permit decision, any person who filed comments on the proposed permit for the TEP Irvington Generating Station or participated in any of the public hearings for the TEP Irvington Generating Station may petition EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) to review any condition of the final permit.

One of the problems the community faced in responding to how TEP's permit complied with PDEQ's code was the absence of cardon dioxide standards.  That's right! The code doesn't include carbon dioxide standards because Scott Pruitt put a hold on the Clean Power Plan. 

I believe that the EPA's refusal to accept the latest science regarding carbon dioxide greatly hampered our efforts to fight the RICE gas-fired engines!  See how important it is that the EPA rely on the best available science when making decisions!  

It's about to get worse, unless we speak out! 

Now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a rule that would restrict the agency's ability to rely on the best available science to ensure that we have clean air and clean water. This is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the EPA's mission to protect public health and the environment. Our air, water, and health all rely on the EPA using the best available science in decision making.

Please, send an individual letter to the EPA. (Find the link below the sample letter.)

To: Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

I am writing to express my objection to and concern about the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science" proposal (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2018-0259). I believe that science plays a pivotal role in ensuring our health and safety, preserving our environment, and informing evidence-based policy. This new proposal would undermine the EPA's mission of preserving public health and the environment.

For the EPA to utilize the best available science to shape public health and environmental safeguards, the agency needs to have the ability to use the best research and information. While this proposed rule promises "transparency," it reduces confidentiality and privacy protections by requiring the raw data from these studies to be made public. Consequently, the best available scientific studies in numerous public health fields, where patient privacy prohibits sharing the raw data, would be sidelined. This arbitrary rejection of data from research on air quality, public health, drinking water, hazardous waste, and so many other fields would inhibit the EPA's ability to implement science-based protections.

When policies play a role in our health, safety, and environment, the EPA needs to use the best available evidence and research when finalizing safeguards. This ill-advised proposal would significantly limit the EPA's ability to make the informed policy decisions that the agency is required to under landmark public health and environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act.

I urge you to reconsider this proposed rule and withdraw it immediately.

You are encouraged to file an individual comment to the EPA and share your story about how restrictions on science would harm your health and the environment. The more people who file comments, the less the EPA can ignore the weight of the evidence.

Go to the public comment page to submit your individual comment.

Be sure to submit your comment by August 16 at 11:59 p.m., and check your email for a receipt confirmation.

The Union of Concerned Scientists put together a few resources to assist you in writing your comment:
• Check out our helpful guide for writing a public comment.
• Watch our Public Comments 101 webinar on making effective public comments to the EPA.

More on the RICE Generators:

Friday, 10 August 2018, Arizona Daily Star article: Go-ahead for TEP generators dismays environmentalists

Scott Pruitt, we have been following your real "accomplishments." Time to RESIGN!

Really!!! Scott Pruitt hung up this list of accomplishments 

The petition to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt reads: "American taxpayers will no longer condone your corrupt administration, bankroll your expensive trips or tolerate the dismantling of our environmental protections to help your industry cronies. Resign now." Add your name:

Scott Pruitt has to go. Every day, another news story breaks about Pruitt's corrupt dealings as Trump's anti-environmental EPA administrator. He is ruling the EPA as his own personal fiefdom – taking first-class flights, using government resources for personal gain and giving away favors to his friends. Meanwhile, as Pruitt's ethical violations are making headlines, he is continuing to quietly scrap every rule that stops polluters from destroying our health and environment. Tell Scott Pruitt to resign. Click here to sign the petition. In hardly more than a year on the job, Pruitt has already made a name for himself by: Taking shady favors from lobbyists. Pruitt rented his Washington condo from an energy lobbyist's wife for an outrageously low price, then approved a pipeline project for the lobbyist's client.1 Wasting taxpayer funds on luxury travel. Taxpayers have spent more than $163,000 on Pruitt's first-class flights, charter flights and a ride on a military jet. The EPA even looked into getting him his own private jet.2 Giving giant, unapproved raises to favorite staffers. Pruitt used an obscure law to get around the fact that the White House rejected pay increases for two staff members he brought from Oklahoma. He gave them raises of 33 and 52 percent.3 Using EPA staff for personal errands. Pruitt assigned an EPA staffer to help him find housing during work hours and on the taxpayer's dime.4 Dismantling environmental protections to help out his industry friends. Newly released emails document Pruitt's long history of coziness with industry polluters.5 The biggest scandal of all is Pruitt's willingness to sell out our climate's future and our clean air and water to funnel money back to his corporate cronies. As one news story put it, the "'Most Blatantly Corrupt Trump Official' award is so close Scott Pruitt can taste it."6 New revelations about his ethical violations continue to break as he tears apart the agency he is supposed to lead. Even some congressional Republicans have started calling for Pruitt to step down.7 Enough is enough. Scott Pruitt has to go. Tell Scott Pruitt to resign. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/resign-pruitt?t=7&akid=28029%2E3130208%2ENNfGuT - Brandy Doyle, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Eric Lipton, "Pruitt had a $50-a-day condo linked to lobbyists. Their client’s project got approved." The New York Times, April 2, 2018. Margaret Hartmann, "EPA Mulled Leasing a Private Jet, and Other Scandalous Scott Pruitt Revelations," New York Magazine, April 4, 2018. Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis, "Top Pruitt aide at EPA also shopped for housing on his behalf," Washington Post, April 2, 2018. Ibid. Brady Dennis and Steven Mufson, "Thousands of emails detail EPA head’s close ties to fossil fuel industry," The Washington Post, Feb. 22, 2018. Bess Levin, "Most Blatantly Corrupt Trump Official' award is so close Scott Pruitt can taste it," Vanity Fair, March 30, 2018. Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and Josh Dawsey, "EPA’s Scott Pruitt faces intensifying scrutiny, criticism of his ethics decisions," The Washington Post, April 3, 2018. Note from Jana at Desktop Activist Tucson I have posted SO MANY calls to action fighting the devastation that Scott Pruitt is aggressively enacting on our land, water and air. Not to mention our health! His actions to delay implementing (and dismantle) the Clean Power Plan hurt my personal efforts to stop the permit for TEP's 10 RICE gas-fired generators.  It's odd to me that it takes this condo scandal to prove this man is corrupt so we can finally get rid of him. He should be prosecuted with the full strength of the law for his crimes against humanity! More information on Pruitt's "accomplishments" 3 environmental regulations Scott Pruitt has been dismantling amid his scandals Scott Pruitt is slowly strangling the EPA The Ten Worst Things Scott Pruitt’s EPA Has Already Done

Don't Let AZ Legislature Block Clean Energy

A group of us in Tucson have been fighting an uphill battle against TEP installing 10 dirty gas-fired generators at the Sundt Plant when they should be transitioning to clean energy.  One of the road blocks we encountered was the delay in enforcing the Clean Power Plan that put limits on how much carbon dioxide plants could spew into our atmosphere. The head of Trump's EPA, Scott Pruitt, is working to repeal the regulation altogether. Now the Arizona Public Service (APS) wants to slow down the transition to clean energy even further for the profit of the fossil fuel industry. (While the fossil fuel industry is biting at the bit to extract from our cherished national parks, nature preserves and pristine shorelines!)

Do not let them have more power to delay the transition to solar for the profit of big oil.

Ask your Representatives to Vote NO on HCR2017!

HCR2017 is a cynical attempt to confuse voters and stop clean energy from advancing and was added as a last-minute strike-everything amendment with limited public review and comment. HCR2017 would refer to the ballot a measure with a name that is nearly identical to the citizen initiative. It is called the “Clean and Affordable Energy for a Healthy Arizona Amendment” versus the citizen initiative “Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona Amendment.” It also includes some similar language, but unfortunately includes language that would allow the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to do nothing relative to advancing clean energy.

This unconscionable measure is again being pushed by the largest monopoly utility in the state, Arizona Public Service (APS). It is an entity that can only be held accountable by the ACC, the courts, and the people, and now the legislature is proposing to undercut our ability to do that.

Clean energy is affordable, reliable, and resilient. Unfortunately, these utilities do not view it that way and they fail to consider the clean air, clean water, and climate benefits provided by solar and wind.

HCR2017 is a recipe to do nothing and that is the last thing that we need. Renewable energy is a key part of our states future. It can help to sustain our economy and protect our air and water, but the legislature and the utilities need to get out of the way for that to happen.

Please send a message to your representatives today.

The Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has begun the process of repealing the Clean Power Plan, which places first-ever limits on the huge quantities of carbon pollution emitted by our country’s electric power plants. Reining in these emissions is crucial to making progress against the worsening climate crisis.

Pruitt’s action is unacceptable. We need this vital, commonsense safeguard that will greatly reduce the United States’ largest source of carbon emissions. Tell the EPA to enforce the Clean Power Plan and defend our communities’ right to clean energy and a healthy future.

Pruitt’s announcement cements his guiding environmental principle: Prop up the dying fossil fuel industry at any cost. This industry poisons the air and water of our most vulnerable communities while we watch the immediate impacts of climate change in real time. Our ocean is turning into a pressure cooker for hurricanes such as Harvey, Irma and Maria, which collectively have killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands.

We don’t have time to sit this fight out until the political winds shift in our favor. We need to tackle our climate crisis now.

Demand that the Clean Power Plan remain in place—and tell the EPA to double down on our commitment to a clean energy future.

- Earth Justice 

On a more personal note: This delay has hurt Tucson. Some members of our community (myself included) tried to oppose TEP's petition to install 10 RICE gas-fired engines using the Pima County code. But we ran into a wall because there was nothing in their code about carbon dioxide - due to Scott Pruitt's efforts in the EPA.  We need strong regulations that allow citizens to fight for clean air and the health of our communities.  It seems the only way to make the fossil fuel industry do what's right for our health and the planet is to regulate them. The only recourse we have is the Clean Power Plan. 

ASK THE EPA NOT TO REPEAL THE CLEAN POWER PLAN.

Tell Trump's EPA: Don't repeal the Clean Power Plan

The comment to the Environment Protection Agency reads: "The Environmental Protection Agency has a legal responsibility to protect Americans from the catastrophic effects of carbon pollution. The Clean Power Plan is a critical first step in addressing these effects. Rather than repealing it, the EPA must preserve, enforce and strengthen the Clean Power Plan to protect public health and the environment from climate change."

Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to repeal our most important federal climate regulation: the Clean Power Plan. Without this rule, more states will rely on coal instead of transitioning to clean energy, and the United States will likely fail to meet its obligations under the Paris climate agreement. The EPA is taking comments on their reckless proposal until Jan. 16. By flooding their docket with opposition, we can build a strong public record of support for climate action that could help as states and others challenge the EPA in court. Tell Trump's EPA: Don't repeal the Clean Power Plan. Click here to submit your comment. Before the Clean Power Plan, power plants had absolutely no limits on how much carbon pollution they could dump into the atmosphere. The plan directs states to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, which are the largest source of U.S. emissions.1 States can cut emissions by shifting away from coal-fired power and investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other sources. About half the states are already on track to meet their targets under the plan.2 In October, however, Trump's EPA chief Scott Pruitt announced that he would repeal the regulation. Pruitt's destructive move comes as no surprise. As Oklahoma's state attorney general, Pruitt had led a group of two dozen state attorneys general in suing the EPA to block the Clean Power Plan. Now that he's in charge, Pruitt has quickly moved to implement a fossil fuel–friendly agenda. Reversing the Clean Power Plan is a futile attempt to keep the dying coal industry on life support at the cost of increased global warming and air pollution – and it will cost lives. Under Pres. Obama, the EPA estimated that the Clean Power Plan would have avoided 3,600 premature deaths, 1,700 heart attacks, 90,000 asthma attacks, and 300,000 missed work days and school days each year.3 Thanks to Trump and Pruitt, these public health benefits may disappear. Coal- and natural-gas-fired power plants are responsible for about one-third of U.S. carbon emissions.4 If states were to fully comply with the Clean Power Plan, experts expect that the power sector would reduce its carbon emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.5 While this is not nearly enough on its own to stop global warming, the plan had already started to jump-start investments in renewable energy and encourage other countries to reduce their emissions as well. As wildfires, flooding, drought and other climate impacts continue to get more severe, we need to preserve and expand the Clean Power Plan, not repeal it. We must now allow Trump's EPA to threaten our future for short-term coal industry profits. Tell Trump's EPA: Don't repeal the Clean Power Plan. Click the link below to submit your comment: https://act.credoaction.com/letter/defend-CPP/?t=8&akid=26774%2E3130208%2EJlOksc - Brandy Doyle, CREDO Action References: The Union of Concerned Scientists, "The Clean Power Plan: A Climate Game Changer," updated Oct. 10, 2017. Kate Aronoff, "EPA hosts the beginning of the end of the Clean Power Plan in coal country," The Intercept, Nov. 30, 2017. Environmental Protection Agency, "Fact Sheet: Overview of the Clean Power Plan: Cutting carbon pollution from power plants," accessed Jan. 3, 2018. Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer, "E.P.A. announces repeal of major Obama-era carbon emissions rule," The New York Times, Oct. 9, 2017. Ibid.

Take action: Tell the EPA not to repeal the Clean Power Plan

EPA has officially opened its proposal to kill common sense limits of power plant pollution to public comment. We need to make sure they hear from everyone.

Will you submit a comment? It's easy - just click here to customize and send your message. .

The Clean Power Plan is our best tool to reduce climate pollution from power plants. It will save consumers money on their power bill ─ about $108 per year ─ and has enormous benefits for our health. It is projected to prevent 90,000 asthma attacks, 300,000 missed work and school days, and 3,600 premature deaths annually by 2030.

Scott Pruitt and Donald Trump want to throw all of that out to help polluters. We can't let that happen.

Climate change is real. It’s now. And we can't go backward. Tell EPA today that our health and our families are more important that polluter profits. Tell them that we can't afford to cancel the Clean Power Plan. .

Repealing the Clean Power Plan would cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars from extreme weather and it would also slow down our transition to clean energy, costing us thousands of jobs. It will expose Americans to more dangerous pollution from power plants and will make climate change worse.

Take action right now ─ send a message to EPA.

John Noël, Clean Water Action

Stop the Dirty Water Attacks in Congress

President Trump and many members of Congress are engaged in an all-out assault on commonsense protections for clean water and public health. The Clean Water Rule, Clean Power Plan, and action to fight climate change are all at risk. We need to make sure our elected officials know that we expect them to represent us, not the polluters who power power their campaigns.

Take action now: Write to your Members of Congress to stand up to attacks on our health & environment.

- Clean Water Action

To send the following message to your members of Congress click here.

Subject:

I need you to support protections for public health and clean water

Message:

I urge you to support clean water, clean air and healthy communities. Please reject any attempts to weaken or dismantle our most important protections, and to oppose budget cuts to EPA and other agencies, that would threaten our water, air and climate.

Please oppose attacks on:

• The Clean Water Rule, which protects drinking water sources for more than 117 million Americans

• The Clean Power Plan, which is vital in our fight against climate pollution

• EPA’s budget for putting laws into action to protect health and natural resources and responding to crises, such as lead contamination

I urge you to stand with people, not polluters. Please oppose efforts to undermine protections for our nation’s air, land, water or wildlife.

You can also call or fax our Arizona Senators at their offices:

Rep. Martha McSally

District: AZ02

Phone:(202) 225-2542

Fax:(202) 225-0378

Sen. John McCain

District: AZS01

Phone:(202) 224-2235

Fax:(202) 228-2862

Sen. Jeff Flake

District: AZS02

Phone:(202) 224-4521

Fax:(202) 228-0515

Not your members of congress? Use your zip code to find your members of Congress here.

SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT: The Clean Power Plan is under attack!

The Clean Power Plan was on track to keep vast quantities of fossil fuels in the ground. The EPA even estimated the Clean Power Plan would prevent up to 6,600 premature deaths and 150,000 asthma attacks in children.

Yet, EPA Chief Scott Pruitt just announced that the Trump Administration will start the process of dismantling this bedrock climate policy. We’ll fight this decision tooth and nail -- not just in the courts, but also in the streets.

Submit a public comment to support the Clean Power Plan and demand that the EPA hold public hearings in all 50 states.

The EPA under Pruitt has shown time and time again, that it’s more interested in protecting polluters than our health. This administration is already attempting to roll back over 50 different environmental policies set up to protect our climate, our health, and our communities – despite a summer of climate-fueled hurricanes and wildfires.

Thousands of communities worked tirelessly for years to push President Obama to enact the Clean Power Plan, which is a critical piece of the U.S. government's plans to cut carbon pollution and meet our obligations under the Paris Agreement. These policies should be made even stronger, not weakened or repealed - rolling back the progress we’ve fought hard for.

The Trump administration is doubling down on dying industries, while ignoring both the science and the job opportunities in renewable energy. We know that there are 5 times as many jobs in solar and wind as there are in coal and gas, and that the future of the economy, in Appalachia and across the country, is in clean and renewable energy that works for all of us, not more fossil fuels that benefit the 1%.

Tearing apart the Clean Power Plan would put our well being, especially that of communities of color and low income families that face the worst climate impacts, at even greater risk.

It’s up to us – if thousands of us submit comments within hours of Pruitt’s announcement, it will send a strong message they can’t ignore. Submit your comment today.

As Trump tries to quash climate action from the top down, we’re continuing to fight back from the ground up.

- Jamie

350.org 

Source:
Archived EPA Fact Sheet on the Clean Power Plan

E.P.A. Announces Repeal of Major Obama-Era Carbon Emissions Rule

Any doubts on Rep. McSally's views on our environmental protections?

Rep. Martha McSally is in the pocket of big business. She will not protect our air or water. As you can see here, she actually led the way in repealing the Clean Air Act, the Clean Power Plan, the Waters of the United States and dismantling the EPA.

Tell Pruitt don't repeal Clean Power Plan

President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt officially proposed to repeal the historic Clean Power Plan, our very best chance at reversing climate change by cutting dangerous carbon pollution from power plants. This outrageous move is a giveaway to coal companies, utilities, and other big polluters that threatens the health and safety of the American people.

But Trump’s EPA is required to accept public comments on this disastrous plan — so we must act now to save these groundbreaking safeguards while we still can.

Be one of the 100,000 activists we need to tell the Trump administration: Don’t destroy the Clean Power Plan!

- NRDC

YOUR MESSAGE will be sent to:

Scott Pruitt, EPA Administrator
Subject line:

Don’t destroy the Clean Power Plan

(Consider adding your own thoughts — personalized messages are especially effective)

I oppose all efforts by the Trump administration to weaken, roll back, or dismantle the Clean Power Plan.

The CPP is one of the most effective tools we have to fight climate change and protect the air we breathe.

Don’t put our environment and our health at risk: keep the Clean Power Plan strong and focused on reducing power plant pollution and the dire threat of climate change. 

Link to message here. 

Tell your representatives to pass a "clean" spending bill with no anti-environment riders or budget cuts!

Some things should transcend partisan divides in Congress. Things like keeping our kids safe from toxic pollution. Climate change. Clean air. Safe drinking water. But the Big Polluters and their allies in Congress see an opportunity to sneak anti-environment measures into a federal spending bill that must pass soon to keep the government from shutting down.

Your elected officials are weighing their options on this spending bill right now, and they need to hear from you.

Tell Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain and Representative Martha McSally to pass a "clean" spending bill with no anti-environment riders or budget cuts!

Corporate polluters and their allies in Congress know that anti-environment attacks, corporate giveaways and rollbacks of public health safeguards would never survive normal up-and-down votes in the House or Senate. Their solution? Attach them to this must-pass budget bill, and hope no one puts up a fight.

This isn't a new tactic — but with Donald Trump in the White House, it's more urgent than ever that we pay attention and speak up. Because he's ready to sign a spending bill full of riders that would trample our right to a clean environment and a healthy future.

These riders could:

*Threaten the air we breathe and the water we drink by rolling back critical clean air and water protections.

*Gut safeguards that keep Big Polluters in check by slashing funding to the EPA and other agencies to enforce environmental rules.

*Wave a white flag in the fight against climate change by abandoning the Clean Power Plan and other efforts to ensure a safe and sustainable future.

*Sacrifice imperiled wildlife like wolves, grizzlies and whales by pulling back on protections guaranteed by the Endangered Species Act.

The NRDC Action Fund is working to stop anti-environment riders like these from infecting this must-pass spending bill. Our lobbyists are on Capitol Hill making sure key senators and representatives are ready to stand up against these rollbacks. We're alerting local and national media outlets to these federal budget schemes. And we're ratcheting up public pressure by mobilizing constituents like you to call their lawmakers.

So tell your senators and representative to oppose any spending bill with measures that hurt the environment and public health!

Make no mistake, this isn't just about the federal budget. It's about protecting our right to a clean and healthy environment, and our children's future from those who would sell them off to the highest bidder.

Rhea Suh
President, NRDC Action Fund

Don't Let Trump Destroy Climate Progress

Donald Trump has issued Executive Orders demanding the EPA and other government agencies move backwards on all of the progress we've made to protect the climate over the past several years. Agencies are being ordered to ignore the impacts of carbon pollution, begin leasing coal mining rights on federal land, and -- perhaps worst of all -- the EPA is being ordered to dismantle its landmark climate protections, the Clean Power Plan.

Once again, we find ourselves with an out-of-control Trump Administration ignoring science, public opinion, and sound public policy to help their buddies in the fossil fuel industry. We can't let them get away with this. And that's why we have you.

Only an outpouring of public outrage can help turn the tide and defend the climate. We've seen it happen with the attempted Muslim ban, and we saw it last week with the disastrous attempt to repeal health care reform.

The good news is, Trump can't just wish the Clean Power Plan away. Over a million Americans submitted public comments supporting it, and thousands rallied and testified at listening sessions and public hearings. EPA will have to go through the same process to turn back the clock.

EPA is also obligated to reduce carbon and other climate-disrupting pollutants because of their previous "endangerment finding" and orders from the Supreme Court, like in Massachusetts v. EPA.

Trump and Pruitt will try to pull a fast one with the climate, but we won't let them. Send a message to them now demanding they keep the Clean Power Plan in place or replace it with something that reduces carbon emissions even more. Stand up, together, and we can defend our progress on climate change and continue our climate leadership. -The Sierra Club 

Sign the petition now.