Tomorrow (probably) Senator Inhofe will introduce a compromise amendment to the good Edwards amendment. This amendment will let the Bush Administration rollbacks go into effect, and then require a health effect study after 1 year. If it passes, the Edwards amendment is toothless, and our air will get dirtier. Senator Harkin's office has told me that he is likely to vote for the Edwards amendment. This is good news, but he needs to get calls on the Inhofe amendment. If you haven't called yet, please do so tonight and leave a message that Harkin should OPPOSE the Inhofe amendment, and support the Edwards one. Harkin's office: 202-224-3254 Please call right away. These votes are scheduled to start at 8:15 our time tomorrow. Amber Hard Iowa PIRG -----Original Message----- From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eric Uram Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 9:22 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Clean Air Alert! phone calls needed Clean Air Action Alert! Senate To Vote to Block EPA's New Source Review Rollback Within the next few days, Senator Edwards will offer an amendment to the 2003 omnibus appropriations bill that will stop EPA from using FY 03 funds appropriated by Congress to implement any of the final weakening changes made to the NSR program last month. The amendment will also require a National Academy of Sciences study on the health impacts of the final NSR rollback rules signed by EPA on December 31. This vote is the most significant action on clean air that has been considered on the floor of the Senate in years. We need to get a flood of calls into key Senate offices NOW. Below is a brief backgrounder on the issue, and a short phone rap to use in calling Senate offices. Senator Harkin has been good on issues like this in the past, and we need to instill resolve in him to address these attempts to roll back clean air AND water programs that protect the health and well-being of everyone in Iowa. Please call today! Background: Today, more than 140 million Americans live in areas where ozone smog levels are high enough to cause health problems such as asthma attacks and declining lung function. Moreover, fine particle pollution known as "soot" cuts short the lives of 30,000 Americans annually. This is to say nothing of the severe environmental impacts of air pollution, including acid rain, mercury contamination and haze in our national parks and wilderness areas. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration is taking giant steps backward on air pollution. A coalition of oil, coal and utility lobbyists have waged a campaign to persuade the Bush Administration to weaken the rules of the Clean Air Act, especially the New Source Review program that requires power plants, refineries and other industries to install state-of-the-art pollution controls when they make major, pollution-increasing plant modifications. Each year, this program has kept more than a million tons of air pollution out of our skies. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman just signed a set of regulatory changes that add up to the largest regulatory weakening of clean air protections in the 30-year history of the Clean Air Act. These rule changes dramatically weaken the NSR program, and could allow pollution increases from upwards of 17,000 facilities across the nation. On the same day, she issued a proposal that would go even further, weakening the NSR program to the point of uselessness. EPA took this action despite widespread opposition among the public, more than one thousand medical doctors, forty-four U.S. Senators, and more than one hundred members of Congress. Moreover, EPA ignored more than a dozen requests from Congress for detailed analysis of the rule changes' impact on public health, and requests for public hearings and opportunity to comment on the rule changes. Phone rap: As I'm sure you know, the Bush Administration has issued rules that would weaken requirements that aging power plants and oil refineries reduce their air pollution if they expand. One study found that pollution from these sources cause thousands of premature deaths and tens of thousands of asthma attacks annually. Fortunately, Senator John Edwards, (D-NC) is expected to offer an amendment to block these weaker rules that would allow more air pollution until the health and environmental impacts of these new rules are studied. The amendment would be attached to the 2003 omnibus spending bill, which could be considered any day now. Can we count on your support for this amendment on the floor? ================================================== Eric Uram Midwest Regional Representative Sierra Club 214 North Henry Street Suite 203 Madison, WI 53703-2200 608-257-4994 office 608-347-8008 cell 608-257-3513 fax [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp