League Urges Senators to Oppose Challenges to EPA Clean Power Plan

The League joined a letter sent to the U.S. Senate urging members to oppose S.J. Res 23 and S.J. Res 24, legislation that would permanently block the Clean Power Plan.

November 16, 2015

Dear Senator,

On behalf of our millions of members, the undersigned organizations urge you to oppose Senators McConnell and Capito’s Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval (S.J. Res. 23 and 24) that would permanently block the EPA’s Clean Power Plan.

These resolutions are an extreme assault on public health, the clean energy economy, and modernizing our energy sector. The Clean Power Plan puts in place commonsense limits on power plant carbon pollution, developed with the input of thousands of stakeholders, and provides the flexibility states need to develop their own plans to meet pollution reduction targets. Blocking these commonsense safeguards puts polluter profits before the health of our children.

Power plants are the country’s single largest source of the pollution fueling climate change and the Clean Power Plan is the single biggest step we have ever taken to tackle climate change. This plan is expected to deliver billions of dollars in benefits and will prevent nearly 3,000 premature deaths and more than a hundred thousand asthma attacks per year by 2030.

Not only would these resolutions undo all of the health and economic benefits of the Clean Power Plan, they would also bar EPA from issuing any standards in the future that are substantially similar. This means that Americans would continue to be exposed indefinitely to carbon pollution and the impacts of climate change.

The world’s leading scientists agree that failing to act on climate change will ensure worsening extreme weather events, threaten food supplies and increase public health risks. We strongly urge you to oppose these resolutions that put the health of our children and families at risk, threaten the quality of our air, and strip the EPA of the tools to address dangerous carbon pollution.

Sincerely,

350.org
ActionAid USA
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Appalachian Voices
Arizona Interfaith Power & Light
Arkansas Public Policy Panel
Center for Biological Diversity
Clean Air Task Force
Clean Water Action
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley
Climate Law & Policy Project
Climate Parents
Colorado Interfaith Power & Light
Conservation Voters for Idaho
Conservation Voters of South Carolina
Defenders of Wildlife
Delaware Interfaith Power & Light
Earthjustice
Earth Ministry / Washington Interfaith Power & Light
Elders Climate Action
Environment America
Environment Arizona
Environment California
Environment Connecticut
Environment Florida
Environment Georgia
Environment Iowa
Environment Maine
Environment Maryland
Environment Massachusetts
Environment Michigan
Environment Minnesota
Environment Missouri
Environment Montana
Environment Nevada
Environment New Mexico
Environment New Hampshire
Environment New York
Environment North Carolina
Environment Ohio
Environment Oregon
Environment Rhode Island
Environment Texas
Environment Virginia
Environment Washington
Environmental Advocates of New York
Environmental Investigation Agency
Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change
Environmental Law and Policy Center
Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Environmental Defense Action Fund
Georgia Interfaith Power & Light
GreenLatinos
Health Care Without Harm
Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light
Illinois Interfaith Power & Light
Interfaith Power & Light
Interfaith Power & Light (DC. MD. NoVA)
Iowa Interfaith Power & Light
Iowa Chapter Physicians for Social Responsibility
International Forum on Globalization
KyotoUSA
League of Conservation Voters
League of Women Voters
Maine Interfaith Power & Light
Maine Conservation Voters
Maryland League of Conservation Voters
Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light
Michigan League of Conservation Voters
Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light
Missouri Interfaith Power & Light
Montana Environmental Information Center
Natural Resources Defense Council
Nebraska Interfaith Power & Light
New Jersey League of Conservation Voters
New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light
New Virginia Majority
New York Interfaith Power & Light
New York League of Conservation Voters
North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light / North Carolina Council of Churches
North Carolina League of Conservation Voters
Ohio Interfaith Power & Light
Oklahoma Interfaith Power & Light
Oregon League of Conservation Voters
PDA, Tucson
PennEnvironment
Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Arizona
Physicians for Social Responsibility Maine Chapter
Polar Bears International
Protect Our Winters
Public Citizen
Rachel Carson Council
Rhode Island Interfaith Power & Light
Sierra Club
Southern Environmental Law Center
Southern Oregon Climate Action Now
Sunshine State Interfaith Power & Light
Tennessee Interfaith Power & Light
Texas Interfaith Power & Light
Texas Physicians for Social Responsibility
The Climate Reality Project
Union of Concerned Scientists
Utah Interfaith Power & Light
Vermont Interfaith Power and Light
Virginia Interfaith Power & Light
Virginia Organizing
Voces VerdesVoices for Progress
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Western Organization of Resource Councils
Wisconsin Environment
Wisconsin Interfaith Power & Light
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters
World Wildlife Fun