Please read through the following and let the administration know seniors are concerned about their efforts to do things around: A senior citizen's worth - under a OMB effort to rethink the valuation of life, the administration is trying to say that senior citizens' lives are worth less because they aren't earning as much as those in the workforce. Air quality impacts on health - much of the Bush administration's air policies will not address the needs of those who have impaired lungs or hearts. Cleaning up the air will have less benefit when a life is worth less. Global warming - we need to do this for the generations to come, we need to solve it now, it's our responsibility and not something we should ignore. Energy future - the cars, buildings and appliances need to run cleaner and more efficiently using cleaner, safer forms of generation. We have the ability to build them affordably, let's do it. Eric Uram Midwest Regional Representative Sierra Club ======================================================================= ====== Subject: URGENT: Register for the EPA senior citizen listening tour today! Schedule for listening tour: Date City, State Registration Deadline April 15 Iowa City, IA April 8 Hi, On March 4, the EPA announced that it would be touring the country conducting 6 "listening sessions" to learn more about environmental health impacts to senior citizens. The events will take place in April and May. This will give us an opportunity for seniors' groups and public health/environmental advocates to speak out against Clear Skies and the NSR Changes. The schedule for the EPA's listening sessions is below. Please let me know if you would like to take the lead in organizing these events in your state or help in some of the national coordination. REGISTER TODAY: TO ATTEND, SPEAK ATTEND If you live in one of the cities where an event is scheduled, we would encourage you to register to attend the listening session. Instructions for registering are below. SPEAK Also, we would love for you to register to speak. There may be some constraints to whom can speak, however, so we should do this strategically: the EPA told me that they will likely limit the number of speakers so I would recommend registering almost immediately. They may hold several slots open for seniors' groups, so I would not wait until your senior citizen coalition partners register before you do, but I would encourage you to call them and ask them to register immediately as well (testimony can be submitted after you register to speak--as late as the registration deadline). EPA told me that they will also place a limit on how many persons from each organization can speak, so make sure you have those you want most to testify on your organization's behalf to register to testify first. last, EPA also told me that they would limit speakers by issue. So, we want to ensure that we put our own personal touch on the issue (org's representation, expertise etc.). Some of you may find these constraints outrageous, but let's not raise a fuss yet. The agency people I talked to seemed to really encourage attendance and said that they may not screen anybody. Everybody should be able to testify (especially because the EPA is not doing any turn out). If groups are disallowed from testifying, we can always raise a stink, later. Directions for registering: Step #1: Go to http://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/epaagingreg.nsf/AgingInitiative?OpenForm Step #2: Enter personal information Step #3: If you would like to speak, enter subject of testimony. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp