{"id":303923,"date":"2010-02-10T17:43:41","date_gmt":"2010-02-10T22:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogs.rj.org,2010:\/rac\/\/2.2442"},"modified":"2010-02-10T18:07:02","modified_gmt":"2010-02-10T23:07:02","slug":"two-steps-forward-one-step-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/303923","title":{"rendered":"Two Steps Forward, One Step Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

At this point, it’s anyone’s guess whether the
\nSenate will take up climate and energy legislation this year: One day the
\nPresident highlights clean energy<\/a> in the biggest speech of the year and Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) rejects “half-ass” energy bills<\/a>, and the next day critics argue that such a controversial policy can’t possibly
\npass any time soon<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But as the climate clock ticks on, others in government are moving ahead using the strongest available
\nenvironmental laws. The Environmental Protection Agency is finally preparing to
\nimplement its scientific finding that global warming pollution endangers our
\nhealth by regulating emissions under the Clean Air Act. It’s an important step<\/a>
\nto help ensure that the worst polluters limit their negative impact on human
\nand ecological health using the best available tools.
\n And yet, some in Congress are
\ntrying to stop the EPA from moving ahead on climate; instead of cracking down
\non polluters, these Senators and Representatives argue that the EPA is trying
\nto buck Congressional authority and hamper our economy in the process. But with
\nstudy after study showing that burning fossil fuels hurts our health and that
\nclean energy alternatives are an environmental and also an economic boon<\/a>,
\nthe EPA has both precedent and logic on its side. <\/p>\n

And faith leaders across the
\nU.S. are speaking out<\/a>,
\nalongside business leaders and environmentalists with a clear message: it’s
\ntime for the EPA to get to work, and for all of us to stand up for a strong
\nClean Air Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even as we fight for a more
\nsustainable energy future, the effects of environmental degradation are already
\non view around the world. But pollsters find consistently<\/a> that the overwhelming
\ncomplexity of climate science and the messy political process around clean
\nenergy turns the public off from the issue.
\nThat’s why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched
\nits new climate portal <\/a>earlier this week. The online resource aims to engage
\nthe American public in the conversation around climate with accessible facts
\nand figures, the latest climate news, and video testimonials<\/span>. <\/p>\n

When DC digs out from the snow
\nstorm and gets back to its busy schedule later this month, there will be
\nlimited time before the 2010 election season gets underway to tackle key issues
\nlike health care, finance reform, and clean energy. But until we move forward
\nwith new legislation, and as we continue to better understand our climate, let’s
\nensure that we don’t take a step back by blocking enforcement of the laws that
\nhave been central to protecting our environment and our health for decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At this point, it’s anyone’s guess whether the Senate will take up climate and energy legislation this year: One day the President highlights clean energy in the biggest speech of the year and Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) rejects “half-ass” energy bills, and the next day critics argue that such a controversial policy can’t possibly pass any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4317,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4317"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303923\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}