I-TAN Alert

Veto Global Warming Pollution

July 21st, 1998

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Here is the I-TAN Action Alert, as of July 21, 1998, which is the tenth activation of I-TAN for the 1998 calendar year.

ALERT
Please Call Governor Edgar Toll-Free and ask him to VETO House Bill 3129, which would prohibit Illinois from reducing the pollution that is causing global warming

EXPLANATION
This Spring, the Illinois General Assembly passed House Bill 3129, would prohibit Illinois from taking any action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. This is an effort by the coal, electricity, oil, and chemical industries to restrict the state's ability to reduce air pollution. The bill now sits on Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar's desk, and he must act on it by mid-August.

We need your help to convince Governor Edgar to veto this terrible bill.

While house Bill 3129 ostensibly bans any effort by Illinois to reduce emissions of the pollution that is causing global warming, we are concerned that the bill could also prohibit or limit state action against smog and other air pollution problems, because these programs may have a secondary benefit of reducing the emissions of one or more greenhouse gases. The state is currently developing strategies to reduce smog and particle pollution that is linked to over 5,000 premature deaths each year in Illinois alone, but these programs may now be vulnerable to legal challenge. The legislation could also jeopardize efforts to reduce the risk of explosions by limiting emissions of methane gas from landfills, because methane gas contributes to global warming.

House Bill 3129 is supported by lobbyists for some of Illinois biggest air polluters, including the Illinois Coal Association, the Illinois Petroleum Council, the Chemical Industry Council, Commonwealth Edison, Illinois Power, the Illinois Manufacturers Association, and others.

We also object to ruling out action to address the threat of global warming, considered by many leading scientists to be the biggest environmental threat facing the planet. Scientists predict that climate change could lead to increasingly severe heat waves in Chicago and other urban areas, problems for corn and soybean farming in Illinois, increased spread of tropical diseases, and increasingly violent storms.

You can help by calling the Governor's toll-free comment line at 1-800-642- 3112, and leave a message asking him to "VETO House Bill 3129". Leave your name and address so they can send you a reply. That's 1-800-642-3112, PLEASE VETO HOUSE BILL 3129.

If you'd like more information, please call the Chapter office at 312-251-1680.

This concludes the I-TAN Action Alert.

Thanks for calling the Sierra Club's Illinois Telephone Activist Network, I-TAN, hosted by the Woods & Wetlands Group.

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Send all comments concerning this action alert to the attention of Jack Darin at illinois.chapter@sierraclub.org or call 312-251-1680.
 

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