February, 03 2011, 03:25pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 202-222-0722, ktrout@foe.org
Matthew Cain, 202-222-0751, mcain@foe.org
Upton and Inhofe Launch Clean Air Act Assault
Latest polluter-lobbyist-backed attack on clean air underscores need for presidential veto commitment
WASHINGTON
Congressman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chair of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, yesterday joined with Senator James Inhofe
(R-Okla.), a notorious climate-science-denier, to launch the latest
assault on the Clean Air Act.
The Upton-Inhofe discussion draft proposes eliminating Clean Air Act protections against smokestack and other types of pollution causing the climate crisis.
Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica had the following response:
"Chairman Upton's attempt to roll back critical Clean Air Act
protections is shameful evidence of his determination to turn his
committee into a protection bureau for corporate polluters.
"Upton has hired a cadre of lobbyists to staff the Energy
Committee-creating a fox guarding the henhouse situation-and he's held
secretive meetings with polluters to get their blessing for his dirty
energy agenda. Now we see the result: a bill that endangers the health
of the American public in order to protect polluter profits.
"This latest in a series of lobbyist-backed initiatives to cripple
clean air and water protections underscores the importance of President
Obama's veto powers.
"President Obama must publicly commit to vetoing any and all Clean Air Act rollbacks."
A Huffington Post piece by Erich Pica about how Chairman Upton has
abandoned his once-moderate positions and embraced a radical dirty
energy agenda is available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/erich-pica/the-curious-case-of-fred-_b_817466.html
A clearinghouse of information on Chairman Upton's budding polluter collusion is available at: https://www.foe.org/upton-watch
Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
(202) 783-7400LATEST NEWS
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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