Murky Water... and Air

All of us who fish know that one of the worst conditions you can fish in is murky water. Murky means you just won’t be able to see the fish. Murky means too much has been stirred up and the fish, well, get to hide better in the murky water.

So it is with Senator Lisa Murkowski – deciding to stir it up. Deciding to hide under murky water and generate a whole bunch of murky, dirty air. A couple of fossil fuel lobbyists have written an amendment to weaken the Clean Air Act and have gotten Senator Murkowski to do their bidding for them.

Seems like Senator Murkowski, from Alaska, doesn’t like the fact that the Supreme Court ruled that under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate the pollution that causes global warming -- pollution that is melting the very land mass that is called Alaska. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is just doing her job – beginning the process to regulate carbon pollution. Seems like Senator Murkowski doesn’t really want to do her job as a Senator – which is to legislate.

Despite the fact that the Senator from Alaska doesn’t deny that climate change is real, and she’s been known to actually talk about the impacts to the state she represents, she doesn’t want EPA to do anything about it. That, the Senator contends should be the purview of Congress. OK. So doing something about it means stopping the EPA from doing anything about it, even though the Senate has still done nothing about it. Hmmm… sounds pretty murky to me.

The Senator’s spokesperson, Anne Johnson suggested that the reason the Senator is going ahead with this Dirty Air Amendment is that she doesn’t want the threat of “EPA regulations hanging over their head.” And how does that actually prevent Congress from doing its job? Interesting to note that Johnson also said that, “Alaska is ground zero for climate change. If anyone is going to be able to talk this much about it, it's someone from Alaska." So, again, the Senator wants to strip EPA of any authority to regulate the very pollution that is making Alaska ground zero for climate change because the Senator from Alaska isn't doing anything herself?

Seems like the Senator from Alaska also hoped to hide under the murky water the fact that in this campaign cycle she’s the #1 recipient of money from electric utilities and is #4 in the line up for oil and gas handouts.

Alaska is on the frontlines of global warming and Senator Murky needs to figure out just who she wants to represent – the fossil fuel industry or the people of Alaska. That’s pretty clear. If the Senator really cares about those villages that in her own words are “falling into the ocean," because of climate change, she needs to make a clear choice.

It’s time polluters stopped messing with the air we breathe. The Clean Air Act is one of the most successful laws Congress has ever passed and has improved the lives of millions of Americans – children and the elderly in particular – who suffer from asthma and other respiratory conditions.

The amendment to weaken the Clean Air Act may come up as early as Wednesday, January 20. Call your Senators and tell them to vote NO on the Murkowski amendment. Congress needs to focus on the real business at hand: passing a climate and energy bill that will improve the economy, protect the environment and our national security. We need legislation that caps carbon pollution and creates an investment infusion in clean energy technology. That’s pretty clear.