FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 22, 2008
CONTACT: David Willett, 202-675-6698
Sierra Club to Testify On Global Warming, Bush Administration Oversight
Senate committee hearings cover Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act
WASHINGTON, DC This week the Sierra Club will go before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to both call for new greenhouse gas regulations and to blast the Bush Administration’s attack on the environment. Executive Director Carl Pope and Chief Climate Counsel David Bookbinder will testify at two different Congressional hearings being held by Senator Boxer this week.
On Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the Senate Evironment and Public Works Committee's "Hearing on Regulation of Greenhouse Gases Under the Clean Air Act," David Bookbinder will testify on how the Clean Air Act can help address global warming in the absence of comprehensive federal legislation.
"To be taken seriously at all by the international community, the U.S. must take action on global warming before the December 2009 Copenhagen climate talks," said Bookbinder. "In the absence of comprehensive federal legislation, both the science and politics of global warming demand immediate action."
On Wednesday, Sept. 24, Carl Pope will also appear before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to slam the Bush Administration’s gutting of the Endangered Species Act and Clean Air Act. The hearing is entitled "Bush Administration Environmental Record at Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency."
"We are extremely appreciative of Senator Barbara Boxer's work to investigate the last eight years of environmental rollbacks and to find a way to move forward. The Bush Administration has consistently used administrative tricks do what Congress would not allow—the systematic deconstruction of bedrock protections for clean air and wildlife," said Pope. "For example, the latest Endangered Species Act rules include all of the disdain for science and political trumping of expertise that has characterized Bush Administration efforts from day one."
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