Bluestem Network Action Alert

February 24, 2004

On New Year’s Eve 2002, when no one was paying attention, the Bush Administration quietly reversed 30 years of clean air protection by weakening a key part of the Clean Air Act called New Source Review. This safeguard had required old coal-burning power plants and oil refineries that were not in compliance with the Clean Air Act to install modern pollution control when they expanded or upgraded.

Senator Barack Obama has introduced The Illinois Clean Air Restoration Act in the Illinois Senate and Elaine Nekritz has introduced the same bill in the Illinois House. Both bills require the Illinois Pollution Control Board to immediately restore the New Source Review protections that were in place before the Bush Administration weakened them.

Please call or email both your state senator and your state representative. Ask them to cosponsor the Illinois Clean Air Restoration Act which is SB 3147 in the Senate and HB 6555 in the House. Be sure to leave your name and address so that he knows you are a constituent.

Every day, as residents of Chicago and collar counties, we breathe air that does not meet federal air quality standards. We are put at risk of asthma attacks, emphysema, heart attacks and premature death, according to leading scientists and doctors. The Illinois Clean Air Restoration Act will put Illinois back on a path of clean air progress. For more information please visit the Illinois Sierra Club website at http://illinois.sierraclub.org/ or call the Illinois Lung Association at 312-243-2000.

A note about Barack Obama who is sponsoring the Senate version of the Illinois Clean Air Restoration Act: He has been endorsed by the Sierra Club for US Senate. Obama has received a 100 percent environmental score from the Illinois Environmental Council for several years in a row. He would be a senator we could trust in Washington D.C.. We are very excited about his endorsement. Please vote for Barack Obama for U.S. senator in the Illinois primary on March 16^th if you take a Democratic ballot. If you would like to volunteer for Obama’s campaign, please call Don at 630-682-9297. Find out more about Barak Obama on the Illinois Sierra Club website or at his homepage at http://www.obamaforillinois.com/

Your call on the Illinois Clean Air Restoration Act is much needed. You may reach your Illinois state senator and representative in Springfield by calling the General Assembly switchboard at 217-782-2000. Then ask for your representative or senator by name. To find out who your state senator and representative are, as well as their email and specific call information, use the following website: http://www.elections.state.il.us/dls/pages/DLSAddresscrit.asp