“If we could have gotten it built ... we could have actually made the air cleaner up there."
-- Steve Kolbeck, vice chairman of South Dakota's Public Utilities Commission after plans for a new $1.6 billion coal plant were abandoned late yesterday
In this issue:
1) Take Action: Protect Clean Air Act Authority
2) Take Action: Give the Polar Bear a Fighting Chance
3) Top 10: Republican "Excuses" on Clean Energy Jobs
4) America's Best Idea: For Everyone
1) Take Action: Protect Clean Air Act Authority
To achieve the emission reductions necessary to avoid catastrophic effects of global climate change we need all the tools we can get.
Senator Bob Menendez is circulating a letter written to Majority Leader Reid asking him to protect Clean Air Act authority to clean up greenhouse gas pollution from existing coal plants.
Please join him in leading the way to a clean energy future by asking your senator to sign this letter.
2) Take Action: Give the Polar Bear a Fighting Chance
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a proposal to designate more than 128 million acres of Alaskan coastline and waters as critical habitat for the polar bear. The designation comes as a result of a decision last year to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. While this decision is an important first step, plans to drill for oil in polar bear habitat are still underway.
Support the designation of this critical habitat and tell the Obama administration polar bear habitat is no place for drilling!
3) Top 10: Republican "Excuses" on Clean Energy Jobs
Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have indicated that they will boycott the markup of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. What might they be doing that is more important than finishing work on this historic bill? Are they are hiding in the attic with balloon boy? Did they have to study for a conference denying climate science?
Check out our Top Ten Possible Excuses and submit your own at Speedbumps, a new group in the Sierra Club's online community Climate Crossroads.
4) America’s Best Idea: For Everyone
The Sierra Club is proud to be working in partnership with V-me, the nation's fastest-growing Spanish-language TV network, to promote the upcoming Spanish-language airings of the Ken Burns documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Parques Nacionales begins airing this week; for local times and channel info visit www.vmetv.com/estaciones.
Visit www.sierraclub.org/parques to see a trailer of the film and find helpful resources tips for first-time national parks visitors, highlighted Sierra Club Outings trips to national parks, and information about some of our country’s most beloved parks -- all in Spanish.