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For Immediate Release
March, 19 2010, 10:31am EDT
Contact:
Bill Snape,
bsnape@biologicaldiversity.org
536-9351
Kieran
Suckling, ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.
(520)
275-5960
Gutting the Clean Air Act is a Senate Deal Killer
Center for Biological Statement on Climate Legislation and the Clean Air Act
WASHINGTON
In the past two days, the media have
reported that
Senators Kerry, Lieberman and Graham have agreed to craft a climate
change bill
which will ban the EPA from using the Clean Air Act to regulate
greenhouse
gases, increase oil and gas drilling (including off-shore drilling),
subsidize
nuclear energy, and allow atmospheric carbon dioxide to grow to
catastrophic
levels by not requiring economy-wide greenhouse gas emission cuts
sufficient to
reduce CO2 levels to 350 parts per million or less.
In response,
Center for Biological Diversity Executive Director Kieran Suckling
issued the
following statement:
"If
correctly reported, the Kerry, Lieberman, Graham approach is
unacceptable. It
won't stop global warming, and by attacking the Clean Air Act, it will
remove
the only tool we currently have that can do so.
"Kerry,
Lieberman, and Graham appear to be taking Congress to a new low it its
long-term
failure to rise to the challenge of stopping global warming. Beginning
with the
inadequate Safe Climate Act of 2008, each successive bill in the House
and
Senate has weakened emission targets and increased fossil fuel
subsidies.
"Enough is
enough. Global warming legislation must do more than have the word
'climate' in
it. If the soon to be released bill mirrors its description to date, the
Center
will call on Senators who care about preserving a healthy human and
natural
environment to vote against it.
"The Clean
Air Act has protected the air we breathe for 40 years, reaping economic
benefits
42 times its cost. We should implement it fully today and craft climate
legislation that complements, not weakens it.
"Scientists
have determined that reducing carbon pollution to 350 parts per million
is
necessary to preserve life as we know it.
350 part per million must be the bottom line for all climate and
energy
policies. House and Senate members should reject all legislation that
does not
require greenhouse gas reductions sufficient to reduce the current
atmospheric
level of carbon dioxide from 387 parts per million to
350."
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
(520) 623-5252LATEST NEWS
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Your dignity stands taller than the place you stood,
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— Explosive Media (@ExplosiveMediaa) May 2, 2026
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