Beating the Chinese

From the League of Conservation Voters:

It sure didn’t take long for the new House Leadership to roll out their aggressive anti-environment agenda.

In fact, last Thursday top staff members for Chairman Fred Upton and Senator Jim Inhofe met in a closed-door session -- with Big Polluters -- to draft a strategy designed to handcuff the Obama administration’s efforts to address climate change, protect public health, and hold corporate polluters accountable.

And that’s not all – Rep. Upton also stated that he’s moving forward with a bill to permanently block or delay EPA’s efforts to advance common sense climate standards under the time-tested Clean Air Act.

It’s crystal clear to all of us now – the leadership of the House in the 112th Congress is quickly becoming the most anti-environment in LCV’s 40 year history.

That’s why the support of LCV’s members is absolutely critical right now. We need to expose every effort by the House leadership to gut the EPA’s authority to cut carbon pollution. And we need to hold lawmakers accountable whenever they decide it’s a good idea to cozy up to Big Oil and Dirty Coal.

As the president lays out his priorities for 2011 tonight, anti-environment lawmakers in Congress, together with FOX News, Big Oil, and Dirty Coal will be scheming to make sure 2011 unfolds according to their plan.

We can – and will -- stop them.

Your membership gift by January 31 will help:

Hold advocacy days that bring LCV activists from around the country to Washington, D.C., to encourage their representatives and senators to stand up to polluters trying to skirt laws that protect the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Mobilize phone calls from environmental supporters to Capitol Hill as key votes approach, flooding the offices of on-the-fence lawmakers – telling them to side with their constituents, not Big Oil or Dirty Coal.

Hold the media accountable for distorting the truth about climate science with aggressive rapid-response programs when talking heads like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin attack.

All of these efforts will be more important than ever in 2011. The attacks against the EPA and public health won’t spring from the House alone -- there’s also a new class of Senators whose campaigns were funded by big polluters and their lobbyists. Those Senators are ready to dive right in and work to undermine sound environmental policies.

They’ve got their minds set on protecting Bush-era subsides for Big Oil, crippling the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon and other dangerous sources of pollution, and opening the floodgates on offshore drilling.

Without the support of LCV members, our planet won’t stand a chance against their assault.


C-SPAN VIDEO

Last year Big Oil and other corporate polluters spent a record $168 million lobbying Congress. They’ve launched an unprecedented smear campaign to defeat comprehensive climate legislation and protect their profits.

Making matters worse, a recent Supreme Court ruling opens the floodgates for oil companies like Exxon Mobil to tap their vast corporate profits to also influence the outcome of federal elections.

We need your help now more than ever to continue building on the important progress we’ve made towards creating a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Check out the SCORECARD.