"New regulations will place undue burdens on industry hurting our economic future."
-- Insert business executive here talking about any type of clean up or accountability plans.
In this issue:
1) Take Action: Hold Big Polluters Accountable
2) Take Action: Tell DOT-- No Special Treatment for Tar Sands!
3) Puerto Rico: Sea Turtles at Risk
4) Air Pollution: Is Texas Too Lenient?
1) Take Action: Hold Big Polluters Accountable
Right now only a handful of sources, including coal power plants, are responsible for more than half of all the global warming pollution in the United States. It's time to hold these mega-polluters responsible for their share of the dirty air.
The EPA is holding two public hearings on this rule on Wednesday and Thursday. You can follow the hearings on Twitter; we'll be using the #bigpolluters hash tag.
Help the EPA to take on Big Polluters like old, dirty coal -- send a message to the Public Register today to show your support!
2) Take Action: Tell DOT -- No Special Treatment for Tar Sands!
TransCanada Corporation is planning to build a new pipeline called Keystone XL to carry Canadian tar sands oil all the way down to the Gulf Coast. To lower costs for this extremely expensive effort and ship more dirty oil, TransCanada wants special permission to operate a thinner-than-standard pipeline well above normal pressure in areas it has deemed "low consequence."
If the request is granted, this will put communities in the "low consequence" areas of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska at risk from pipeline ruptures and oil spills.
Tell DOT not to give TransCanada special treatment.
Last year, after almost a decade of hard work by the Sierra Club and other coalition and local community groups, more than 3,000 acres in the northeast corner of Puerto Rico were designated as a nature reserve. This area is one of the most important U.S. nesting grounds for the critically endangered Leatherback, the world's largest sea turtle.
Now Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño has issued an executive order removing the nature reserve designation and opening the way for luxury golf course resorts and condos.
Tell Governor Fortuño to reinstate the nature reserve protection!
4) Air Pollution: Is Texas Too Lenient?
The EPA has singled out Texas's air permitting program for review, raising concerns over program’s lax air permits and a lack of transparency in the process. The EPA is looking to tighten regulations, which for years have been too lenient on polluters. After the review, likely by the end of the month, the EPA is expected to declare that Texas’s air permitting program is inadequate.
This could mean that major Texas polluters, like coal plants and refineries, could have to get new permits, more protective of public health.