On January 2, 2011, for the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency began to regulate carbon emissions, having declared that they form a significant danger to human health and well-being. In the absence of comprehensive legislation on climate change, this is the only recourse the administration has for regulating carbon and thereby fulfilling our obligations under international law.

 

Now Congress wants to force the EPA to stop, and is even taking aim at the Clean Air Act, one of the most successful pieces of legislation ever. We need to let our senators know that climate change is a moral issue, and that we have an obligation to ourselves, our neighbors and to future generations to reduce carbon pollution. We just completed a successful letter-writing campaign, but we still urge you to call the senators (or your representative) and tell them to protect public health and defend the Clean Air Act.

 

Senator Casey’s phone numbers:                                     Senator Toomey’s phone numbers:

Washington, Toll Free: (866) 802-2833                                                              Washington, (202) 224-4254

Harrisburg, (717) 231-7540                                                                                   Harrisburg, (717) 782-3951

Philadelphia, (215) 405-9660                                                                               Philadelphia, (215) 597-7200

Pittsburgh, (412) 803-7370

Scranton, (570) 941-0930

Erie, (814) 874-5080                                                                                               Erie, (814) 453-3010

Bellefonte, (814) 357-0314

Allentown, (610) 782-9470                                                                                    Allentown, (610) 434-1444

 

Calling takes only a minute (you simply need to give your name, hometown, and a very brief message), but it makes a big difference. Read these reflections from PA IPL board member Joy Bergey to learn more about the Clean Air Act:

Help keep the EPA working to protect our environment

 

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Text Box:  An Ode to the Clean Air Act By PA IPL Board member Joy Bergey The Clean Air Act is one of the backbones of public health and environmental law in this country.   The Clean Air act prevents human illness and extends lives.  It protects our lungs and hearts by requiring that pollutants be removed from our air. The White House estimates that this legislation saved 160,000 American lives in 2010 alone.   The Clean Air Act was passed in 1970 by President Richard Nixon with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. The law was created after 25 years of work to prevent American deaths from due to dirty air. Our air is significantly cleaner as a result, but still not clean enough to be safe to breathe all the time. It gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority and responsibility to enforce the country’s clean air laws. Roughly once a decade, the Clean Air Act gets amended by Congress to address newly recognized environmental threats. After all, in 1970 we didn’t know about the ozone hole or global warming. As the CAA came into being, lobbyists for the auto industry forecast gloom and doom. Quote from current EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson: “In the 1970s, lobbyists told us that using the Clean Air Act to phase in catalytic converters for new cars and trucks would cause “entire industries” to “collapse.” Instead, the requirement gave birth to a global market for catalytic converters and enthroned American manufacturers at the pinnacle of that market.” One of the most important amendments to the Clean Air Act was made in 1990, signed into law by another Republican President, George H. W. Bush. It addressed acid rain, a problem not recognized in 1970. Acid rain was slowly killing the aquatic life in rivers and lakes all over the Northeastern US. Acid rain forms when sulfur dioxide (Sox) and nitrogen oxides (Nox) in the atmosphere combine with water to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid, respectively. These acids, mixed with rainwater, fall to Earth as acid rain. Where did the sox and nox come from? They were byproducts of all the coal we were burning for electricity. Sox and Nox were being spewed into the air from the chimneys at our power plants. By the late 1980’s, concern galvanized the country, and Congress amended the Clean Air Act to create the Acid Rain Program. Again, industry screamed they would be bankrupted. On the eve of the legislation, the EPA itself estimated that the program would cost $6 billion annually. Now, by the way, the federal Office of Management and Budget has estimated actual costs to have been $1.1 to $1.8 billion -- just 20 to 30 percent of the forecasts. The acid rain program has largely worked. Acid deposition has decreased by more than 40 percent in the Eastern United States since 1990 under a cap-and-trade program for power plants. The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act also addressed the ozone hole for the first time, realizing it was responsible for increasing numbers of cataracts and skin cancers. The EPA estimates that the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act will prevent more than 160,000 premature deaths. EPA: “The total benefits of the Clean Air Act (since 1970) amount to more than 40 times the costs of regulation. For every one dollar we have spent, we get more than $40 of benefits in return. Another air pollution problem not recognized in 1970 was global warming. But we know now just how huge the threat is. Some in Congress have been trying to amend the Clean Air Act for more than ten years to limit carbon dioxide pollutions that are causing the earth to warm. And for years, many pushed back saying that the Clean Air Act did not give the EPA authority to regulate carbon dioxide. So in 2007, the issue went to the US Supreme Court – the John Roberts Supreme Court. And the Court ruled that if EPA were to determine carbon dioxide to be a threat to public health, then the EPA would be required by the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide. In 2009, the EPA did the science, and confirmed what the overwhelming number of serious, trained climate scientists already knew: carbon dioxide, as the global arming culprit, is a serious threat to public health. And EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that as of January 2011, the EPA would start regulating carbon dioxide from the country’s largest coal-burning power plants. And that has indeed started. Just about everybody in Congress, even progressives who are all for regulation of carbon dioxide, don’t want a regulatory agency, EPA, to be setting the rules. As a matter of turf and pride, Congress wants to set the rules for how regulation will occur. But Congress has utterly failed to pass legislation to set these rules. The House of Representatives passed a climate bill in 2009, but Senate has refused. And now, after failing to pass legislation, many in Congress are trying to strip EPA of its authority to regulate global warming. They are trying to weaken the Clean Air Act – that has saved so many lives over the years, and indeed saved the country so much money. There is practically no chance that the 112th Congress will pass a climate change law this year or next. However, Congress is actively trying to to weaken the Clean Air Act and stop EPA from regulating global warming pollution. This is egregious. Please call your senator today.