MORE THAN 2 MILLION COMMENTS SUPPORTING EPA PROTECTIONS AGAINST CARBON POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE COLLECTED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

June 21, 2012

http://bit.ly/MjMGOj

Washington, DC – June 21, 2012: Today, a broad coalition of groups supporting clean air safeguards announced they have collected more than two million comments in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Carbon Pollution Standard, which limits industrial carbon pollution from new power plants.  The comments, totaling 2.1 million were collected over the past 10 weeks and the groups expect thousands more to be collected in the coming weeks. This unprecedented tally is the largest number of comments ever submitted to the EPA during a public comment period, and far exceeds the number of comments EPA has ever received on any prior issue.

The groups issued the following joint statement about the groundswell of support for the new EPA carbon pollution standard:

“We already knew that Americans strongly support the EPA’s efforts to address climate change and to reduce dangerous air pollution that threatens the health and safety of our children, communities, and wildlife.  Doctors, scientists and other experts agree that carbon pollution threatens our health, plain and simple, by driving climate change which increases the formation of lung-damaging and asthma-attack inducing smog, which is particularly dangerous for kids and seniors. Climate change will also drive more deadly heat waves, floods and increase the spread of infectious diseases.

“But our expectations have been exceeded by the unprecedented support demonstrated by the more than 2 million comments from Americans who support EPA’s historic standard to curb dangerous industrial carbon pollution from new power plants while urging EPA to move forward with a strong standard for existing power plants. The message is clear: Americans want cleaner air and less industrial carbon pollution and they want EPA to protect their kids, their families and their communities from the dangerous effects of climate change.”

The following groups have gathered comments and signed onto the above statement:

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

American Sustainable Business Council

Care2

Center for American Progress Action Fund

Clean Air Council

Clean Water Action

Climate Reality Project

Climate Solutions

Democracy for America

Earthjustice

Energy Action Coalition

Environment America

Environmental Defense Fund

Fresh Energy

Greenpeace

Health Care Without Harm

Interfaith Power and Light

Leadership Center for the Common Good

League of Conservation Voters

League of Women Voters of the US

MomsRising

NAACP

National Audubon Society

National Hispanic Medical Association

National Wildlife Federation

Natural Resources Defense Council

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Presente.org

Sierra Club

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Union of Concerned Scientists

US Climate Action Network

Voces Verdes

World Wildlife Fund

Contact:  David Di Martino, 202.247.7271, [email protected]; Keven Kennedy, 202.276.3159, [email protected]