FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23,
2011
Contact:
Maggie Kao,
919-360-0308
U.S.
House Pushes Deadly, Pro-Polluter Agenda
Approval of TRAIN Act will mean More Toxic Mercury
and Dirty Air
Washington, DC -- The U.S.
House of Representatives today voted in favor of legislation that exposes women
and children to toxic mercury pollution and will make breathing more difficult
for millions of Americans. The so-called TRAIN Act, H.R. 2401, is the most
dangerous attack on clean air since the law was enacted by President Nixon 40
years ago.
In
response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune issued the following
statement:
"The U.S. House Leadership’s
continued, all-out assault on essential clean air protections demonstrates a
complete and reckless disregard for Americans' well-being and the things we care
most about – our health, our families’ health and air that’s safe to breathe.
“House Leadership claims that
the costs of basic pollution protections, protections that Americans have relied
on for 40 years, are too high. But their passage today of the so-called TRAIN
Act will cost 34,000 lives. That’s 34,000 people – fathers, mothers, neighbors,
friends and children – who could be saved by protections against dangerous
pollution and who the majority of the U.S. House has identified as collateral
damage for their pro-polluter agenda. In addition to these initial, unnecessary
deaths, the TRAIN Act will result in 25,000 more lives lost each year that it
delays critical protections against pollution.
“Sacrificing tens of thousands
of American lives will not create more jobs. Allowing corporations to dump toxic
pollution into the air our children and our families breathe will not help the
economy recover. Burdening the American people with billions of dollars in
health bills will not lead to economic growth.
“A healthy economy begins with
healthy people. The Sierra Club thanks President Obama for his vow to veto this
bill and we urge the Senate to reject the House’s reckless attack on American
values and clean air.”
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