Public Policy
Thank You Sen. Klobuchar
We thank Senator Amy Klobuchar for her floor speech delivered on Thursday, February 9 calling for a new bipartisan energy agenda that preserves our environment & provides “green” energy jobs. In addition to highlighting the threat of climate change, Senator Klobuchar stated that "perhaps the most fitting example in the context of combating climate change is the Clean Air Act." Watch her speech here (in two parts due to a time constraint):
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/appearance/601256999
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/appearance/601257051
Thank You Sen. Franken
We thank Senator Al Franken for the colloquy he gave with Senator Whitehouse on climate change in December.
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Defending the Clean Air Act
Sign the Clean Air Promise by clicking here.
Breathe - really... take a long deep breath. Now, think about it - you can go days without food and hours without water, but only a matter of minutes without air. Each of us breaths, on average, over 3000 gallons of air each day. That makes clean air a pretty precious resource and something we can't take for granted.
In 1970, the Clean Air Act was made law with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed by President Richard Nixon. The Environmental Protection Agency was created in the same year and given primary responsibility for carrying out the Clean Air Act. An April 2011 report from the EPA shows "benefits estimate exceeds costs by a factor of more than 30 to one." This means that for every one dollar spent on Clean Air Act compliance, we see $30 in benefits in the form of health benefits (reduced risk of premature death and long-term health impacts), economic benefits, improved environment and improved productivity.
Given all this good news, why is Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light working in coalition with other organizations to protect and defend the Clean Air Act? Because there are those in the industries that are being regulated and congressional members who ally with those industries that are trying to delay and resist standards already in place and new standards that are being introduced by the EPA. The clean air standards that protect our air and the public health are being threatened and compromised. We need your help in preventing this and there are many ways you can do so.
The EPA states that "although significant progress has been made in improving the quality of the air in most U.S. cities and communities, there is more to be done over the next 40 years. After the Clean Air Act's first 20 years, in 1990, it prevented more than 200,000 premature deaths, and almost 700,000 cases of chronic bronchitis were avoided. Over the last 20 years, total emissions of the six principal air pollutants have decreased by more than 41 percent, while the Gross Domestic Product has increased by more than 64 percent. Through continued innovation and successful implementation, the Clean Air Act will deliver even more benefits over the next 40 years." We must work together to ensure that the EPAs ability to protect our air and the public health is not compromised.
Take Action:
Sign the Clean Air Promise
Join the National Preach-In on Global Warming
Send a Valentine to Senator Amy Klobuchar
Learn More:
Read about the impacts of Mercury in Minnesota and the new EPA Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
Read the Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act from the EPA
Reports on the changes already happening from the US Global Change Research Program
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Link to the national public policy page of InterfaithPowerandLight.org