The Council vs. Rep. Jim Gerlach
The Council has been very concerned with recent federal attacks on the EPA and it's Supreme Court mandate to regulate harmful greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act. One member of the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation who has been out front on these attacks is Rep. Jim Gerlach (R, PA-06). As such, Katie Feeney of the Council recently published this letter to the editor in the Pottstown Mercury:
More than 1.15 million Pennsylvanians with asthma, including 260,003 children, face increased health risks if three U.S. House members from Pennsylvania are successful in preventing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing the Clean Air Act, according to data compiled by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and released with Health Care Without Harm. The lawmakers collectively have received more than $500,000 from polluters, many of which make stopping the EPA a high priority.
Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa., has cosponsored a bill (H.R. 97) introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., that would permanently block EPA from limiting carbon pollution. There are 44,558 children and 141,921 adults in Rep. Gerlach's district with asthma — asthma that could worsen if carbon pollution continues to go unchecked. Carbon pollution is linked to asthma because it contributes to warmer temperatures, a key contributor to ozone (smog) formation. The Philadelphia area still has not attained the federal health standards for ozone.
Elected leaders, such as Rep. Gerlach, must not put the demands of campaign contributors before the health of their constituents. It is important that scientists and environmental health experts at the EPA be allowed to fulfill their mandate to protect public health without political interference.
KATIE FEENEY
Clean Air Council
Rep. Jim Gerlach responded to the Council directly, calling us "silly and baseless":
Regarding Katie Feeney's letter to the editor ("More needs to be done to enforce the Clean Air Act," The Mercury, January 29), I take strong exception to her silly, baseless and ultimately misleading assertion that I don't care about pollution or people who suffer from asthma.
What Feeney and the Clean Air Council don't mention in making their allegations is that H.R. 97, introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and cosponsored by me, is meant to assure that it is Congress, the democratically elected representatives of the people, that has the responsibility to determine environmental policy rather than a bunch of unelected bureaucrats. Feeney and her allies know that they stand a better chance of implementing their job-crushing, energy rate-increasing "cap and trade" policy through their friends in the EPA bureaucracy instead of having the people's representatives debate that policy openly in front of the American people.
This bill simply requires that clean air policy be debated and voted on by Congress before our nation's environmental policies are changed and obviously Feeney and the council don't want the voices of the people to be heard in that debate. Shame on them for using scare tactics rather than advocating on behalf of the people.
CONGRESSMAN JIM GERLACH
West Pikeland
The Council joined with environmental allies such as Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, PennEnvironment and others to hold a protest in front of Rep. Gerlach's Exton, PA office. Due to weather, our group of 15 to 20 citizens were invited inside for an in-district meeting with the Congressman's staff. We had a productive discussion with Rep. Gerlach's office but we still do not see eye-to-eye on this issue.
The Council will continue to work with members of the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation to reinforce the message that we must move forward on addressing global warming with meaningful federal policy instead of attacking the federal agency charged with protecting the health of the American people and preserving our natural environment.
