We can't wait to act on coal ash! Americans deserve clean energy. We shouldn't be poisoned by dirty coal plants and coal ash, and then be asked to foot the bill. Tell the President and the EPA.

photo by Doc Searls
CC BY-SA 2.0

Coal ash is a concentrated toxic by-product of burning coal and is a growing problem across the nation. The EPA and the National Academy of Sciences research show that coal ash is toxic, and threatens human health.

Yet Big Coal has been fighting any change to the status quo, lobbying against these proposed regulations and asking the nation’s energy regulators to charge ratepayers for any coal ash cleanup charges.

Now is the time to get Michigan's economy going! Ask your State Representative ReEnergize Michigan

photo by citizenofthedeep
licensed under Creative Commons 2.0

Just recently, the very first battery pack for the Michigan-made Chevy Volt rolled off the line at GM's new Brownstown Assembly Plant, signaling another giant leap forward for Michigan's clean energy economy.

General Motors is making major investments all over the state as the car maker prepares to ramp up production of the hybrid electric Volt, revving up our economy and speeding along the path to a cleaner, greener Michigan.

As part of that green revolution, we're working hard to re-energize Michigan by reducing fuel emissions that cause global warming and health problems, and sending a signal that here in Michigan, we are committed to leading the world in advanced battery technology. Now it's time for our lawmakers to join in by supporting a fuel emissions reduction and the entire ReEnergize Michigan! legislative package.

Don't let the Senate stall progress! Tell them we need strong legislation on climate and energy, not attacks on the Clean Air Act.

On January 20, the U.S. Senate will vote on an amendment that could take away the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ability to enforce the Clean Air Act. Late last year, EPA announced that global warming emissions represent a danger to public health just like other forms of air pollution, and that the Clean Air Act needs to be put into action to reduce this pollution.

Clean Water Action is working to strengthen and defend our important laws that protect public health and the environment...but we can't do it without your help.

The science is clear: climate change has already begun to devastate our water resources, and we must act now to head off the worst impacts on public health, on water and other natural resources, and on our economy. Some U.S. Senators and industry lobbyists want to undermine the Clean Air Act. This is a dangerous precedent and flies in the face of what science tells us our government needs to do right now.

Last year's elections to the board of the Pedernales Electric Co-op resulted in a majority committed to ending the days of scandal that have plagued the PEC for so long. The PEC board is now considering bringing a Bill of Rights before the members for approval during this year's board elections.

City Public Services (the City of San Antonio's electric utility) and New Jersey based NRG are currently seeking investors for two new nuclear reactors they hope to build at the South Texas Project site in Bay City, Texas. They are also seeking commitments from communities like yours to purchase the power these reactors would generate.

Recent revelations leave no doubt that top officials at the City Public Services deliberately misled the public and the San Antonio City Council about the true cost of nuclear power. Clean Water Action and our allies have issued warnings for several months now that the $13 billion price tag for the nuclear reactors proposed for South Texas was too low.

CPS has now admitted that this figure is $4 billion too low! Top staff
at CPS and chair of its Board have now resigned in disgrace.

E-mail your representative in Michigan's House today to ask for legislation that will reduce diesel pollution.

Anyone whose ever been stuck behind a dump truck knows the black exhaust pouring out of diesel-powered vehicles is unpleasant, to say the least. What they, and you, might not know is what's in the exhaust and how it affects us. The black exhaust pouring out of diesel vehicles chips away at our health, putting Michiganders at an increased risk of heart attacks, lung cancer, and asthma. Diesel pollution is a silent killer.

In Michigan alone, it is annually estimated to cause the early deaths of 443 people, more than 15,000 asthma attacks, 648 non-fatal heart attacks, and over 57,000 lost work days. Further, diesel emissions have been shown to have 7 times the lifetime cancer risk than that posed by all the other 181 hazardous air pollutants combined.

Tell DEP: Don't Dilute the Standards!

All across Pennsylvania, natural gas companies are rushing to drill new gas wells to extract gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale - which runs beneath most of our state one mile down.

While energy companies are excited about this new revenue stream, Pennsylvania streams and rivers are left with a huge problem - the highly toxic wastewater from the gas drilling process.

Marcellus wastewater contains a mix of heavy metals including arsenic and lead, toxic chemicals such as benzene that can cause cancer, and salts. This wastewater is generally 3-6 times saltier than seawater, and already has changed fresh water streams in Pennsylvania into salt water environments!

The Safer Alternatives Bill will create a program in Massachusetts to replace toxic chemicals with Safer Alternatives wherever feasible. The bill is currently before the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. That committee held a public hearing on the bill on November 2nd, but the Environment Committee has not yet acted to give the bill a favorable report.

A favorable report is needed to move the bill to the next stage in the legislative process. Your legislators can help by urging the Chairs of the Environment Committee to act on the bill soon. Please write to them and ask them to help!

As our lawmakers decide how to vote on clean energy legislation, they face pressure from the special interest lobbies of dirty coal and big oil to maintain the status quo. During these times, congressional staffers report what the public is saying--both what they hear directly, and what is said through local newspapers.

That is why we are calling on you - a clean energy and climate policy supporter - to write your local newspaper to urge passage of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act that is currently in the Senate.

Austin Energy, our city's award-winning electricity provider, has prepared a new ten-year plan on where we will get our energy from. This plan will increase Austin's commitment to clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency, help keep electric bills in check, and cut back on pollution from the coal-burning Fayette Power Plant.