"You're spending millions on climate change. What climate change are you talking about?"
-- Sen. Inhofe (R-OK) on the Fish and Wildlife Service's plan to help wildlife adapt to global warming
In this issue:
1) Take Action: Halt More Oil Drilling Off Our Coasts!
2) Take Action: Tell your Representative to Vote for Home Star
3) Update: Oil Disaster
4) Coal Ash: New Safeguards
1) Take Action: Halt More Oil Drilling Off Our Coasts!
The Deepwater Horizon drilling-rig disaster is a sad reminder that oil is dirty, dangerous, and deadly. We need President Obama to stop all new drilling off America's coasts immediately and permanently. This dirty and dangerous practice has no place in a 21st century energy economy.
Instead of risking our lives, our coasts, our clean air, and our security by perpetuating our addiction to oil, it's time to build a clean energy economy that means more jobs, less pollution, and real energy independence.
Tell President Obama that enough is enough!
Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen/University of Wisconsin SSEC)
2) Take Action: Tell your Representative to Vote for Home Star
The House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill that would create a national rebate program to help families make their homes more energy efficient in order to cut pollution and slash their energy bills. The program, called Home Star, would put thousands of Americans back to work retrofitting millions of homes and buildings.
The vote on Home Star could happen as early as Thursday, so contact your Representative today and ask them for their support.
Tell your Representative to Vote for Home Star!
3) Update: Oil Disaster
With the oil slick in the Gulf continuing to grow and no end in sight, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced yesterday that he was ending his support for offshore drilling. The danger of our addiction to fossil fuels has never been more tragically clear.
Keep up with the latest developments and learn how you can help at our Oil Spill Action Center.
Photo Credit: (Otto Candies/US Coast Guard Press / CC BY)
4) Coal Ash: New Safeguards
The EPA today proposed new safeguards for toxic coal ash. Included in the Agency's plan are two options, one option includes strong, federally enforceable safeguards to protect the public from toxic coal ash, and the other treats coal ash (which contains potentially dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals) less stringently than household garbage. Both the science and past failures of the patchwork of state-based regulations call for the stronger, federal protections.
Stay tuned -- the Sierra Club will be working hard to urge EPA to adopt the most protective safeguards.