Climate Reality Check
For Immediate Release
May 17, 2010
Kerry-Lieberman Bill Continues Dangerous Direction for U.S.
15 Groups Call on Congress to Choose Clean Energy, not Gulf-Style Disasters and Big Polluters
The Climate Reality Check coalition (CRC)—consisting of faith, social justice, environmental, and other public interest organizations—announced today that the American Power Act introduced by Sens. John Kerry (MA) and Joe Lieberman (CT) is the wrong direction for U.S. climate and energy policy. The bill prioritizes reliance on offshore drilling and other dirty and dangerous technologies over effective pollution controls, clean energy, consumer protections, and creating real and just international climate solutions.
The coalition issued the following statement:
"The policies in the Kerry-Lieberman bill were wrong for the U.S. before the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and the Senate must recognize that they are wrong now. The well-being of our nation and the world are being sacrificed for the interests of big polluters, which continue to rake in record profits at the expense of the environment and the public. Our recent mining and drilling tragedies make clear that it’s time to choose clean and safe renewable energy for our future. We need legislation that prioritizes clean industries and energy efficiency, and which protects the Clean Air Act, not the dirty industries causing these crises. We need legislation that is sufficiently ambitious in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and in meeting our responsibilities to developing nations which are bearing the disproportionate brunt of the effects of climate change."
The Climate Reality Check coalition is calling on senators to reject the American Power Act unless aggressive improvements are made. Members of the coalition agree that federal climate and energy legislation must:
- RAPIDLY REDUCE POLLUTION Set an economy-wide cap on greenhouse emissions that is consistent with the best available science and that can be ratcheted down as necessary.
- PRESERVE EXISTING TOOLS Preserve the Clean Air Act’s requirement that harmful global warming pollution be reduced, and preserve states’ authority to implement innovative solutions on their own.
- REJECT LOOPHOLES Reject offsets and other loopholes that prevent pollution reductions from taking place in the U.S.
- PROTECT FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES Protect low- and middle- income families and vulnerable communities through stable, predictable, and transparent carbon pricing, and through low-income consumer protections and dividends.
- INVEST IN CLEAN ENERGY Invest in the development and deployment of abundant clean energy and energy efficiency.
- REJECT POLLUTER GIVEAWAYS Big polluters should pay when they pollute, not be handed giveaways.
- LIVE UP TO OUR INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS The United States must be a leader in supporting and funding effective and just international climate solutions.
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Climate Reality Check (www.climaterealitycheck.org) is a coalition of faith, social justice, environmental, and other public interest organizations calling for U.S. climate and energy policies that protect environmental, community, and economic health in the U.S. and around the world, and that hold big polluters accountable.
Climate Reality Check includes:
350.org
Contact: May Boeve: 707-815-0054
Center for Biological Diversity
Contact: Bill Snape: 202-536-9351
Climate Collaboration Network of Corporate Ethics International
Contact: Anne Pernick: 503-459-6673
CREDO Action
Contact: Adam Quinn: 415-369-2065
Earth Day Network
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Contact: Devin Helfrich: 202-903-2520
Friends of the Earth
Contact: Nick Berning: 202-222-0748
Global Exchange
Contact: Reede Stockton: 415-613-4277
Greenpeace
Contact: Kyle Ash: 202-441-1314
International Forum on Globalization
Contact: Victor Menotti: 415-351-8065
International Rivers
NC WARN (North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network)
Contact: Pete MacDowell: 919-259-3140
Public Citizen
Contact: Allison Fisher: 704-604-3750
Rainforest Action Network
Contact: Nell Greenberg: 510-847-9777 / Brianna Cayo Cotter: 415-305-1943
Sustainable Energy & Economy Network, Institute for Policy Studies
Contact: Daphne Wysham: 202-510-3541
United Methodist Women
Resources
- Take part in our No More Oil Spills Month of Action
- One-page report card on the Kerry-Lieberman "American Power Act" (pdf)
- Long version of the Kerry-Lieberman "American Power Act" report card (pdf)
- News release responding to the introduction of the Kerry-Lieberman bill
- Policy analysis of Kerry-Boxer bill (pdf)
- Letter to senators signed by more than 400 groups calling for real climate legislation (pdf)