The following message was sent today by NRDC.  There is an article about
this in today's Des Moines Register. Thanks to Republican Senator Lincoln
Chafee of Rhode Island, the bill tied in committee.

Committee Chairman James Inhofe (OK) blamed the impasse on "environmental
extremists".  If breathing clean air is "extreme", so be it.
Jane Clark


We won! Earlier today, the Senate Environment Committee deadlocked 9-9 over
President Bush's so-called Clear Skies bill, which means it will die in
committee. One Republican and one Independent joined seven Democrats in
voting
against the bill.

This is a huge victory over a terrible piece of legislation -- crafted by
some
of America's biggest polluters -- that would have taken a devastating toll
on
our health, our families and our environment.

I cannot thank NRDC's Members enough for the tens of thousands of messages
you
sent your senators on this issue. In the weeks leading up to this critical
vote, we kept the pressure on the Senate through an all-out campaign of
grassroots activism, paid advertising and intensive lobbying. I can tell you
firsthand that your online activism helped make the difference.

This is a great day for clean air, but it is much more than that, too. By
blocking one of the worst pieces of anti-environmental legislation in the
new
Congress, we've sent President Bush a message loud and clear that he's in
for a
tougher fight than he bargained for. We will not let him steamroll his pro-
industry agenda over the American people.

The president won't back down, of course, and you can be sure we haven't
heard
the end of his dirty skies bill. Its proponents could try to revive it in
committee, or use a procedural trick to bring it to the Senate floor for a
vote, or simply attach it as a "rider" to a spending bill. But the NRDC
Action
Fund will remain vigilant, and you'll be alerted if this bill rears its ugly
head again.

In the meantime, I hope you'll join me in celebrating this hard-won victory
in
defense of clean air. And thank you again for helping make it happen!

Sincerely,

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
NRDC Action Fund

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