For
Immediate Release Contact: Trey Pollard, (202) 495-3058
April 18, 2012
House Rubber Stamps Big Polluter Wish List, Leaving Clean Transportation and American Jobs At the Curb
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House of Representatives ignored a bipartisan, two year transportation bill approved by the Senate to pass a 90-day extension loaded with big polluter pet projects.
Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, issued the following statement in response:
“John Boehner and his House Republicans had a simple solution right under their noses: approve overwhelmingly bipartisan Senate legislation, improve our national infrastructure, and protect three million American jobs. Instead, in a desperate scramble to appease their big oil benefactors, they trampled over common-sense to rubber stamp a big polluter wish list.
“The bill passed today doesn’t just kick the can down the road – it ties the livelihoods of millions of Americans to the pet projects of the dirty energy industry, including the costly and dangerous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and stiff arms public input on transportation projects that will significantly impact communities. Just as reckless, the bill also would also put a weak and dangerous scheme in place that requires more protections on household trash than toxic coal ash, even though coal ash pollution leads to health risks like cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects, reproductive failure, asthma and other serious illnesses. The three million Americans whose jobs are on the line deserve an explanation from Boehner: how does allowing cancer-causing coal ash pollution have anything to do with transportation?
“At a time when gas prices are rising, almost half of Americans lack access to cleaner and more affordable transportation options, such as public transit, safe biking and walking. House leaders should be more concerned with building a safe, modern transportation system than padding the profit margins for big polluters.”
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