Representative Fred Upton, Chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, is coming under pressure from his constituents, and health and environmental groups for sponsoring a bill that would gut the EPA’s ability to implement the Clean Air Act.

Rep. Upton is flagrantly disregarding scientific findings, putting big polluters’ profits ahead of public health, and misrepresenting the implications of his bill.

More than 7 million children in the US currently suffer from asthma and the Clean Air Act has already prevented 1,700,000 asthma attacks since 1990.

It should come as no surprise that the American Lung Association has launched a billboard advertising campaign across southwest Michigan urging Rep. Upton to stop his attack on the Clean Air Act.

You can add your voice in support of public health today. Please call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask for your Members of Congress, and urge them to defend the Clean Air Act from Rep. Upton’s attacks.

Yesterday, at a townhall meeting in Portage, Michigan, Representative Fred Upton – Chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee – misrepresented a bill he sponsored, saying it “doesn’t undermine the Clean Air Act.”

Despite what Rep. Upton says, his bill very much undermines the Clean Air Act:

• Rep. Upton’s bill exempts carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants from the Clean Air Act’s definition of “air pollutant,” overturning the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Massachusetts v. EPA — which required the EPA to act on carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act if it determined the pollution to be a public health threat (which it did).
• Rep. Upton’s bill blatantly ignores scientific findings. The bill repeals EPA’s scientific finding that carbon dioxide and other climate-changing pollutants are bringing Americans death, illness, and injury. Rep. Upton’s bill thereby disregards the findings of the National Academy of Sciences and countless other scientific experts.
• Important health groups agree his bill would strip away protections under the Clean Air Act. The American Lung Association issued a statement urging Congress to “to reject Chairman Fred Upton’s draft bill that will undermine the Clean Air Act.”
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Calling on lawmakers to “let science, not politics” set standards on controlling key pollutants, more than 170 scientists from colleges and universities across Michigan are urging their congressional delegation to oppose attacks on the EPA’s ability to protect against air and water pollution.

One of their key targets is Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, the powerful chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who is leading the charge against the EPA and the Clean Air Act , and has ignored overwhelming scientific evidence that supports the EPA’s work.

In their letter, the scientists highlight that “for more than 40 years, the EPA has protected public health and safety by holding polluters accountable – and it should be allowed to continue doing its job. Scientists across Michigan stand united with scientists at the EPA and across the nation. Science, not politics, must drive our fight against dangerous pollution.”

Furthermore, the scientists urged Members of Congress “to reject any measure that would block or delay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from protecting the people of Michigan from air pollution and human-caused climate change, both of which put our health, agriculture, environment and economy at risk.”

You can defend public health today by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.  Ask for your Members of Congress and urge them to defend the Clean Air Act, especially against Rep. Upton’s attacks (H.R. 910).