League Urges Senators to Stand up for the Environment

The League sent a letter to the U.S. Senate urging Senators to defend our vital natural resources and protect public health against pollution. Members of the LWVUS Lobby Corps will also deliver this letter in their visits to select office on Capitol Hill.

January 15, 2015 

TO:        Members of the U.S. Senate

FROM:     Elisabeth MacNamara, President

RE:         Protecting the Environment in the 114th Congress

As the 114th Congress begins its business, the League of Women Voters would like to encourage you to defend our vital natural resources and protect public health against pollution. 

The League of Women Voters has been at the forefront of the environmental protection movement for decades, consistently supporting legislation to preserve our nation’s natural resources and protect our public health. We support legislation that seeks to safeguard our country from the physical, economic and public health effects of climate change while also providing pathways to economic prosperity. 

Climate change is the greatest challenge of our generation. President Obama has taken significant steps to fight climate change under the Administration’s Climate Action Plan. The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulations to limit carbon pollution from new and existing sources are the central and critical components of a plan that puts people before polluters. Power plants are the largest source of industrial carbon pollution in the US. We encourage you to oppose all attempts to overturn, limit or undermine these important protections. The air we breathe and the health of your constituents depend upon it. 

Since it was first adopted, the Clean Air Act has a track record of success and bipartisan support. As lawmakers, the League challenges you to fully support implementation of the Clean Air Act while working to strengthen and fighting against attempts to weaken it. 

The U.S. must be a leader on climate change so that we can expect the world to make significant changes to fight climate change. World leaders will head to Paris in the fall of 2015 to set meaningful goals to fight climate change together. Significant steps from the U.S. to continue lowering emissions of dangerous greenhouse gasses—like the proposed regulations to reduce carbon pollution, methane and ozone—could significantly impact discussions on the world stage. The U.S. is in a unique position to lead the world—it’s time we step up to the challenge.

The League of Women Voters looks forward to working with you to defend our natural resources, fight climate change and protect public health. We hope you will make a commitment to support people not polluters.