FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press contact: Josh Mogerman, NRDC Action Fund, 312-651-7909
CHICAGO (June 16, 2015) – Digital ads urging Senator Mark Kirk to protect children’s health and support action to limit carbon pollution have appeared on news outlet sites and in social media across Illinois. The ads, placed by the NRDC Action Fund, ran last week and continue this week in advance of several committee votes the Senate is expected to take on proposals to stop the US Environmental Protection Agency’s historic Clean Power Plan. The policy would set the first-ever limits on dangerous carbon pollution from the nation’s power plants, the largest source of pollution driving climate change.
“Senator Kirk has focused on the health of Illinoisans, the Great Lakes and national security: moving forward, addressing climate is going to be essential to addressing all of these issues,” said NRDC Action Fund senior advisor Henry Henderson. “The ads urge Senator Kirk to stand for these principles by supporting the Clean Power Plan. You can’t advance any of these issues without meaningful climate action.”
The NRDC Action Fund ad campaign hit the homepage of the Chicago Tribune last week and will be seen on the Chicago Sun-Times, Champagne News-Gazette, State Journal-Register in Springfield, and the Daily Herald this week. The campaign also includes a heavy social media presence and a letter that includes business and national security voices urging the Senator to support climate action.
Recent bipartisan polling shows Illinoisans are ready to fight climate change and advance clean energy by an overwhelming margin. Sixty-six percent of Illinoisans support the Clean Power Plan itself, and when informed that states can create their own plans to meet the pollution reduction goals of the Clean Power Plan, a whopping 83 percent of Illinoisans said they support their state developing a plan to reduce carbon pollution, as well as increasing the use of clean energy and energy efficiency.
More information:
- Henry Henderson blogged on the campaign and recent Chicago floods at http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/hhenderson/chicago_river_runs_backwards_a.html and http://nrdclive.wpengine.com/updates/senator-kirk-its-time-to-pick-a-side-on-climate-action.html/
- Henderson also blogged on recent Illinois polling looking at in-state attitudes about climate action and clean energy at http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/hhenderson/polling_shows_illinoisans.html
###
The NRDC Action Fund’s mission is to grow the environmental majority across America to achieve the passage of legislation that jump-starts the clean energy economy, reduces pollution, and sustains vibrant communities for all Americans. Now is the time for leadership and action from our elected officials — our current goal is a comprehensive clean energy policy that will repower our economy and fuel our future. www.nrdcactionfund.org
The NRDC Action Fund is an affiliated but separate organization from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, the NRDC Action Fund engages in various advocacy and political activities for which the Natural Resources Defense Council, a 501(c)(3) organization, faces certain legal limitations or restrictions. News and information released by the NRDC Action Fund therefore needs to be identified as from the NRDC Action Fund. Use of the label “Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund” is incorrect; the only correct title is the “NRDC Action Fund.” In other words, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the NRDC Action Fund cannot be used interchangeably. Also, please note that the word “National” does not appear in Natural Resources Defense Council.
