Take Sides Coalition: 'Congress Sides With Polluters'

 

Organization Says Anti-Climate Legislation Votes Show Who Sides with Industry 

Albany – Just days after the release of an environmental encyclical by Pope Francis, the U.S House of Representatives passed anti-climate legislation introduced by Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-Kentucky) that is aimed at blocking the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the Clean Power Plan.

The following joint statement is attributable to the Take Sides Coalition:

“While we thank those representatives who have stood with science and voted against this egregious legislation, there was far too much support for big polluters. It is inconceivable that so many climate deniers continue to hold influential positions within the federal government. The Washington bureaucrats who vote with the corporate polluters who take advantage of low income communities of color are far removed from the most vulnerable in our population who are most affected by the impacts of climate change. 

The human, environmental, social and economic tolls of climate inaction are too great to ignore. Pope Francis has called climate change ‘a global problem with serious implications,’ calling it ‘one of the principal challenges facing humanity.’

Representatives John Katko, Peter King, Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin have taken the wrong approach by standing with polluters instead of constituents. It’s time for voters to take sides and hold their elected leaders accountable.”