"You know it's patriotic coal because they're using their bombs bursting in air to turn those purple mountain majesties into amber waves of gray."
-- Stephen Colbert on mountaintop removal coal mining, and a decision to grant Patriot Coal a new mountaintop removal mine permit
In this issue:
1) Take Action: Fight Attacks on the Clean Air Act
2) Take Action: Demand Follow Through on Clean Water Promises
3) Clean Energy: Investments Paying Off with Jobs
4) Oil Shale: Investors Question Shell
1) Take Action: Fight Attacks on the Clean Air Act
Just last month President Obama’s EPA declared that global warming pollution endangers human health and welfare and announced plans to limit emissions from big polluters. Now this plan is under attack. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is working on an amendment that would block President Obama and the EPA from enforcing any global warming pollution limits under the Clean Air Act -- even for big polluters like coal plants and oil refineries.
A vote on the amendment may come as soon as this week. We need your help to make sure your Senators vote against this attack on progress to curb global warming.
Give them a call today!
2) Take Action: Demand Follow Through on Clean Water Promises
Last year during his campaign, President Obama promised to help restore protections to our nation’s waters. Now we are counting on him to deliver.
The administration should give a gift this New Year to the millions of Americans who want to keep clean drinking water, by stopping the polluters who are trying to strip clean water act protections from over half of our nation’s streams.
Tell the Obama administration to work with Congress to reaffirm the Clean Water Act protections that have kept our drinking water safe for more than three decades before it is too late.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers has released a new quarterly report highlighting the success of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act at creating jobs and fueling economic growth.
The report, which includes analysis from outside economists, shows that the Recovery Act has saved or created 1.5 to 2 million jobs through last quarter. 63,000 clean energy jobs were created by the $5 billion in clean energy investments spent under the Recovery Act so far. The report estimates that, in total, the Recovery Act's clean energy investments will create 719,600 job-years through 2012.
4) Oil Shale: Investors Question Shell
Earlier this week institutional investors and shareholders filed a resolution with Shell requesting that Shell explain how the company decided to invest billions of dollars into oils sands in the face of anticipated greenhouse gas regulation, oil price volatility and negative public perception. The Shell resolution follows similar actions at Conoco-Phillips, Exxon-Mobil, and Enbridge, and underscores that investors and the financial community increasingly believe expansion of dirty oil infrastructure like refineries and pipelines are expensive, unnecessary, and financially risky.
The Sierra Club's Dirty Fuels campaign is working to stop U.S. importation of tar sands.
Learn more about our work at www.dirtyoilsands.org and help us spread the message that tar sands are a bad investment.