Leaders of WWF and other Major Groups Call Upon President Obama to Back Clean Air Act in State of the Union Address

"We urge you to use your upcoming State of the Union address to underscore the critical need for the Clean Air Act’s sensible safeguards and to oppose any attempt to block, weaken, or delay its continued implementation," said the leaders of WWF and other major organizations yesterday (20 January 2011) in a letter to President Obama.  The President's address is scheduled for 9 pm EST on 25 January 2011.  

The full text of the letter is provided below.  It also is available as a PDF file.

 January 20, 2011

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

We are writing to you about the Clean Air Act, a remarkably successful public health law that has saved hundreds of thousands of lives over the last 40 years while our economy has tripled in size. Our organizations cannot overstate the priority we put on preventing efforts to block, weaken or delay implementation of this vital law, which at every stage in its history has garnered overwhelming bipartisan support. We urge you to use your upcoming State of the Union address to underscore the critical need for the Clean Air Act’s sensible safeguards and to oppose any attempt to block, weaken, or delay its continued implementation.

As you know, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun to roll out long-overdue safeguards to reduce carbon, mercury, and other life-threatening pollution from big sources that have been allowed to dump unlimited amounts of pollution into our air for far too long. These clean air safeguards will save tens of thousands more lives, prevent millions of illnesses, and reduce health care costs, while spurring innovation and job growth. Their health benefits will vastly outweigh their costs.

Unfortunately, the nation’s biggest polluters and some members of Congress have launched an unprecedented attack on the Clean Air Act. Your recent Wall Street Journal op-ed emphasized your administration’s achievements under the Clean Air Act. In order to build on those achievements, the EPA must retain its authority to hold polluters accountable and continue moving forward to implement all of these much-needed safeguards.

You have demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting public health and bringing about a clean energy economy throughout your presidency. Your upcoming State of the Union address offers a perfect opportunity to renew that commitment by making clear that you will continue to stand with the public -- not polluters -- and do everything in your power to ensure that the EPA retains the authority and the resources to take the life-saving actions necessary to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink.

Sincerely,

Liz Butler, Campaign Director
1Sky

Rebecca Wodder, President
American Rivers

John D. Podesta, President and CEO
Center for American Progress

John Kassel, President
Conservation Law Foundation

Bob Wendelgass, President and CEO
Clean Water Action

Rodger Schlickeisen, President and CEO
Defenders of Wildlife

Trip Van Noppen, President
Earthjustice

Margie Alt, Executive Director
Environment America

Fred Krupp, President
Environmental Defense Fund

Erich Pica, President
Friends of the Earth

Phil Radford, Executive Director
Greenpeace

Gene Karpinski, President
League of Conservation Voters

David Yarnold, President and CEO
National Audubon Society

Thomas C. Kiernan, President
National Parks Conservation Association

Larry Schweiger, President and CEO
National Wildlife Federation

Frances Beinecke, President
Natural Resources Defense Council

Andrew Sharpless, Chief Executive Officer
Oceana

Joshua Reichert, Managing Director
Pew Environment Group

Michael Brune, Executive Director
Sierra Club

William Meadows, President
The Wilderness Society

Kevin Knobloch, President
Union of Concerned Scientists

Peter Bahouth, Executive Director
U.S. Climate Action Network

Carter Roberts, President and CEO
World Wildlife Fund 

Online Resources

WWF Climate Change Blog:

• EPA Strongly Reaffirms Scientific Basis for Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions. 29 July 2010.
• Record Rains Pummel Oklahoma City as State's Senator Inhofe Continues to Deny Climate Change Science.  15 June 2010.
• Video and Transcript of Senate Debate on Murkowski Resolution to Veto EPA's Science-Based Climate Change Findings.  12 June 2010.
• NY Times Editorial: "Where’s the Senate on This One?" 10 June 2010
• White House Says Resolution Before the Senate Would Impede Transition to Clean Energy Economy and put Americans at Risk .  9 June 2010.
• Former EPA Administrator Russell E. Train Urges Senate to Reject Efforts to Weaken Clean Air Act.  25 May 2010.
• EPA sets timetable for regulating climate pollution .  23 Feb 2010.
• Clean Air Act Under Attack...AGAIN.  23 Feb 2010. 
• As Weather Extremes Hammer Arkansas Farms, Senator Lincoln Endorses Veto of Finding that Climate Change Threatens Farmers. 27 January 2010.
• U.S. EPA: Greenhouse Gases "Threaten the Public Health and Welfare of the American People."  7 Dec 2009.