Re: Will There Be a Clean Air Act Tomorrow?

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March 29, 2011: In This Issue º Mercury Pollution Near You º What's Next for Nuclear Power º Coal Plant for Sale º You vs. Exxon Mobil º A Day of Action for Workers Share: IN THE NEWS The Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign director, Mary Anne Hitt, recently appeared on Good Morning America to talk about how you can avoid mercury in your diet and get tested for exposure. (Don't miss seeing the show's host get his results on camera). To learn more about mercury -- and possibly get tested yourself -- sign up at our Stop Polluters website. EXPLORE Firm Up Your Vacation Plans Can't wait for the snow to melt? Warm up for summer on one of the Sierra Club's plentiful spring trips -- or book your summer trip while spots are still available. Explore the fabulous canyons, lakes, and waterfalls of Northern Yosemite, pitch in on a service project and kayak in Florida's Cayo Costa Island State Park, or whitewater raft spectacular wilderness canyons in Utah and Colorado's Dinosaur National Monument. Visit our Outings website to find the trip that's right for you. And be sure to sign up for the Explorer newsletter for monthly updates on new and featured trips! TODAY'S GREEN TIP When you consider that showering uses 7 gallons of water per minute, it starts to hit home why you'd want to turn off that tap earlier. Low-flow showerheads certainly help — they'll get you down to 2.5 gallons per minute — but the biggest savings occurs when you just jump in, rinse off, then get out. More tips | Subscribe! ENJOY Not-So-Empty Nests Which feathered lovers regurgitate food during courtship? Which pint-sized bird binds its home together with spiderwebs? Which mother leaves weak hatchlings to die? Learn some strange, true facts about nests and the birds that build them in this Sierra magazine slideshow. ON THE RADIO 1) Forrest North and Armen Petrosian, founders of a new iPhone app called PlugShare, which helps electric vehicle owners find places they can plug in anywhere in the country 2) Taggart Siegel and Jon Betz, filmmakers of a new documentary about bees called Queen of the Sun 3) Jody Farnham, author of The Joy of Cheesemaking 4) Green cuisine tips from chef Annie Somerville. Listen | Subscribe PROTECT Keep Mountain Streams Clean Some members of Congress want to make it easier for Big Coal to destroy our mountains and pollute our streams. Their plan is to strip the EPA's ability to protect us from mining pollution -- requiring them to ignore science as Big Coal fills mountain streams with toxic waste. Tell Congress to let the EPA do its job to protect America from mountaintop-removal mining. Will There Be a Clean Air Act Tomorrow? To protect the corporate polluters that got them elected, several U.S. senators are pushing legislation that would gut the Clean Air Act. The vote could happen any day this week, which is why it's urgent that you call your senators and tell them to stand up to Big Oil and Coal. The Clean Air Act has a 40-year track record of protecting our health and saving lives. Contact your senators now before it's too late. Is There Mercury Pollution Near You? Mercury is poisonous and every year about 48 tons of it get dumped into our air and water, and winds up in our food. That's because almost two-thirds of coal-fired power plants lack the necessary pollution controls to keep toxic air pollution like mercury, acid gases, and arsenic out of our air and water. What can you do? Find out if there is a polluting coal plant near you (use our brand new map) and then learn what you can do to help phase out this old, dirty way of generating power. A Roadless Walk Across California At 74 years young, Santa Lucia Chapter member Cal French has seen the California landscape change dramatically, with sprawl development and Joshua trees on a collision course. As the climate changes, though, wild plants and animals need secure open-space corridors so they can adjust and adapt. To highlight the need to save those natural corridors, Cal has pulled on his boots and started a two-month, 530-mile roadless hike all the way from the Colorado River westward to Morro Bay. Follow his progress as he blogs and posts photos from his trek. What's Next for Nuclear Power The tragedy in Japan has suddenly cast the risks of nuclear power in a different light for many of its former supporters, but the Sierra Club has consistently been opposed to nuclear power. As Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune wrote for Fortune magazine this month: "We shouldn't be throwing good money after bad and using taxpayer dollars to subsidize the construction of new nuclear plants. Instead, we should be deepening our commitment to an aggressive transition toward cleaner energy resources, like solar and wind, that don't cause catastrophic meltdowns, don't cause massive spills on our coastlines, and don't contribute to global warming." Maybe then we won't need to mine for uranium right next to Grand Canyon National Park. Coal Plant for Sale In the market for your own personal outdated energy source? You're in luck -- Santee Cooper is selling all the parts and design for its now-canceled coal plant in South Carolina. Yes, the company has even listed it as "for sale" in Power Engineering magazine. The Sierra Club has been heavily involved in fighting this plant, which is one of more than 150 we've stopped through our Beyond Coal campaign. Now we're looking for your ideas: What should be done with all those spare parts? The Difference Between You and Exxon Mobil The people who created the wonderful "Story of Stuff" video didn't stop there -- they've now released "The Story of Citizens United v. FEC: Why Democracy Only Works When People Are in Charge." That's a mouthful, but it really comes down to why corporate spending to influence politicians and elections has exploded ever since the Supreme Court granted corporations like Exxon Mobil the same free-speech rights enjoyed by actual human beings. The result: "a democracy in crisis." Watch it now and then take action to demand reform. A Day of Action for Workers As Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune has written, union members and environmentalists share a common vision of creating healthy, safe, prosperous communities across America. Together we fight for policies that ensure clean air, water and lands, and decent wages, health care, and a secure retirement for working families. On April 4, 2011, citizens across the nation will come together for a Day of Action for human, civil, and environmental rights and a better America. We will not allow corporate polluters and their political friends to take away the rights that Dr. King and thousands of others fought to secure. Find out how you can get involved. View previous editions at the Insider Archives. Subscribe to the Sierra Club Insider. Unsubscribe from the Sierra Club Insider. Know someone who might be interested in the Sierra Club Insider? Help spread the word by using our online form to tell your friends, family, and co-workers about the Insider or simply forward this Insider on. (Some email clients strip the links out of emails when forwarded. If your email does this, you can also direct friends, family, and co-workers to our online version.)

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