November 16, 2015
Dear Members of the U.S. Senate,
On behalf of the undersigned organizations representing the interests of millions of Latinos nationwide, we urge you to oppose Senators McConnell and Capito's Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval (S.J. Res. 23 and 24) that would permanently block the EPA's Clean Power Plan.
Poll after poll reiterates the fact that the Latino community strongly supports action on climate change. Latinos have expressed support for the Clean Power Plan's commonsense limits on power plant carbon pollution and have vowed to support states adopting and strengthening the plan. Blocking these commonsense safeguards puts polluter profits before the health of our children.
Power plants are the country's single largest source of the pollution fueling climate change and the Clean Power Plan is the single biggest step we have ever taken to tackle climate change. This plan is expected to deliver billions of dollars in benefits and will prevent nearly 3,000 premature deaths and more than a hundred thousand asthma attacks per year by 2030. For our community and the millions who are exposed to extreme heat, extreme weather, and the pollution that causes climate change and exacerbates these health impacts, action is critical.
Not only would these harmful resolutions undo all of the health and economic benefits of the Clean Power Plan, they would also bar EPA from issuing any standards in the future that are substantially similar leaving climate change unchecked and our community exposed indefinitely to carbon pollution and the impacts of climate change, worsening extreme weather events, threatening food supplies and increasing public health risks.
We strongly urge you to oppose these resolutions that put the health of our children and families at risk, threaten the quality of our air, and strip the EPA of the tools to address dangerous carbon pollution.
Sincerely,
Nicolas Ibargüen
President
*abc Foundation Green Forum
Irene Vilar
Executive Director
Americas for Conservation
Lisa Hoyos
Director & Co-Founder
Climate Parents
Edwin Luevanos
Co-Founder & CEO
Citizen Energy
Chris Castro
Co-Founder
Citizen Energy
Mildred Real
CEO
Common Ground for Conservation/America Verde
Alejandra Goyenechea
Senior International Counsel
Defenders of Wildlife
Maria Cardona
Principal
Dewey Square Group/Latinovations
Giselle Achecar,
Managing Director, Founder & CEO
EcoRico Entertainment, LLC
Felipe Floresca
Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs
Emerald Cities
Mark Magaña
President
GreenLatinos
Dr. Antonio Flores
President & CEO
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Clayton Louis Ferrara
Executive Director
IDEAS for Us
Xavier Morales
Executive Director
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Brent Wilkes
National Executive Director
League of United Latin American Citizens
Amy Hinojosa
Executive Director
MANA – A Latina Organization
Ben Monterroso
Executive Director
Mi Familia Vota
Dr. Sergio Rimola
Co-chair, DC Metro Steering Committee
National Hispanic Medical Association
Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero
President
National Latino Evangelical Coalition
Angela Glover Blackwell
President and CEO
PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity
Carlos Zegarra
Director
Sachamama
Joseph Sanchez
Partner
SolarFour
Robert Garcia
Founding Director and Counsel
The City Project
Adrianna Quintero
Director & Founder
Voces Verdes