In an e-mail sent out earlier today, the US Chamber asked its members to write letters to Congress, urging that they pass 5 different attacks on the Clean Air Act that would effectively block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. Their argument? That the EPA regulations “will impose what could prove to be the most costly, burdensome, and expansive set of job killing regulations ever crafted.”
By saying that regulating greenhouse gases is too costly and burdensome for the American economy, the Chamber is asserting that industry profit margins hold more value than clean air, healthy communities and a stable climate. They aren’t taking into account the fact that unchecked greenhouse gas emissions lead to increases in asthma and other respiratory ailments in people, in addition to severe environmental degradation and a more rapidly warming climate—these are the real costs that we need to be concerned about, and the price tag for fixing them would be monumentally higher than what big polluters will have pay for a new filter on a smoke stack.
In its shortsightedness, the Chamber also states that “there’s a growing consensus that the EPA’s efforts are a barrier to our country’s economic recovery.” Clearly, the Chamber hasn’t checked its facts or figures recently. California recently passed a clean energy bill that will create 500,000 green collar jobs for the state, and the wind industry already employs more people in the United States than the coal industry does.
It’s time to fight back against the Chamber’s harmful slandering of the Clean Air Act, and to change the narrative around clean energy—regulating greenhouse gases leads to industry innovation and healthier communities, and clean energy means more jobs and more financial security for the American economy.
Please take a moment to call your Senator today. They need to know that we love the Clean Air Act, and that we’re willing to fight to protect it.
