Please read the article that you can find here:
The Bush administration has drafted regulations that would ease pollution controls on older, dirtier power plants and could allow those that modernize to emit more pollution, rather than less.
The language could undercut dozens of pending state and federal lawsuits aimed at forcing coal-fired plants to cut back emissions of harmful pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, said lawyers who worked on the cases.
(More after the fold)
It refers to new EPA regulations that will permit coal burning power plants to increase their emissions of dangerous pollutants.
I have refrained from sending you “political” emails since Dad claimed in his last response to me that “I opposed everything he ever stood for in his life.” I disagreed with his assessment but out of respect stopped sending him emails that criticized the Bush Administration’s policies.
But this is more important than politics. This involves the health of my family: specifically your granddaughter, daughter-in-law and son, who all experience episodes of asthma where we live. Especially your ten year old granddaughter, who as you know takes medication every night to ward off asthma attacks.
In upstate NY we are downwind of large numbers of these coal burning power plants. The emissions of pollutants from these plants are a significant cause of respiratory illness. Our Attorney General in NY had been suing many power plants in NY and other states to get them to cut their emissions as required under the Clean Air Act. These new regulations will sabotage his efforts (and the efforts of other States’ Attorney Generals) and likely result in an increase of these dangerous pollutants in the air we breathe.
I ask, respectfully, that you contract your Senators and Congressional Representative and ask them to protest this decision by the EPA and to support legislation to clean up the air that my family breathes. I have already sent an email to my Republican Congressman, Jim Walsh, and to my Senators, asking them to do the same.
This is not an issue where political differences should matter. This is a health issue pure and simple. I hope you will agree that protecting the public’s health (and specifically your family’s health) should be the concern of us all, regardless of party affiliation.
Here are the addresses and telephone numbers for your two Senators:
John Kyl:
WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE
730 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521
Fax: (202) 224-2207
PHOENIX OFFICE
2200 East Camelback, Suite 120
Phoenix, Arizona 85016-3455
Phone: (602) 840-1891
Fax: (602) 957-6838
Email contact webpage: http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm
John McCain:
Washington D.C.
241 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg.
United States Senate
Washington DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2235
Fax: (202) 228-2862
Phoenix
5353 North 16th Street
Suite 105
Phoenix, Arizona 85016
Phone: (602) 952-2410
Fax: (602) 952-8702
email contact webpage: http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Contact.Home
I don’t know who your Congressional Representative is, or I would provide that information as well.
Thank you.
Love, Steve