Activists to Meehan: Stand up for environment
MEDIA » Constituents of U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7 of Chadds Ford, called on him Friday to vote for measures that combat climate change and to work against energy policies put forward by President Donald Trump.
“The future of our earth and our children really depends on us raising our voices and asking our legislators to stick up for our children’s future and the future of the earth by implementing good climate safety protection measures,” said Cathy Spahr, founder of the We Speak for the Trees initiative to send the Dr. Seuss book “The Lorax” to every member of Congress.
Meehan, a member of the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, was one a handful of Republicans to break from his party in urging Trump to remain in the Paris climate agreement to reduce greenhouse gasses globally and expressed disappointment when the president withdrew.
But Meehan he has also made several votes that irk environmentalists, including bills to overhaul the Environmental Protection Agency’s scientific advisory committee and restrict how the agency can use scientific data; a disapproval of the Stream Protection Act that restricted potentially toxic debris from being dumped into streams near mining sites; and delaying implementation of air pollution standards outlined in the Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2015.
“Rep. Meehan, you signed a resolution that you believe in climate change, so please start voting like you do right now,” said Christine Russell, of District 7 Citizens for Equality Action.
Russell said all five counties in the 7th District have ozone levels above EPA standards, which can trigger asthma attacks, aggravate other lung problems and damage crop yields.
Community advocate Kim McCollum added that low-income families and people of color who live near pollution-emitting facilities are particularly susceptible to health effects from ozone at ground level.
“This is a significant public health problem that needs to be addressed now,” said McCollum. “Our environment is for all of us, no matter who you are or what you do, and it needs to be preserved for all of us.”
Jack Gallagher, of Bowling Green Patriots, voiced concerns that large swaths of Greenland and the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica breaking off could result in massive sea level rise and bring the banks of the Delaware River onto Baltimore Pike.
“We can’t let this decision now go to our children and grandchildren,” he said. “By the time our grandchildren have grown, all those events will have happened.”
Teacher Wade Tomlinson,
director of sustainability at the Westtown School, said 2017 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record. As a camp counselor and parent, Tomlinson said he often hears about heat or ozone advisories that urge parents to keep children indoors.
“I never heard that when I was a kid and I grew up in Texas,” he said. “So I feel like it’s only getting worse. This is only 2017 – what is it going to be like in 2020, 2025, 2030, when my kids are growing up, when they’re going to camps, when they’re enjoying the outdoors?”
Meehan spokesman John Elizandro did not respond directly to the issues raised Friday, but mentioned that his office has worked with McCollum and Russell in the past. He also referred to a handful of press releases
and news stories centered on Meehan’s involvement with the Climate Solutions Caucus, as well as his support for a resolution to use “American ingenuity, innovation, and exceptionalism … to study and address the causes and effects of measured changes to our global and regional climates.”
But Spahr said that Meehan needs to do more than pay lip service to constituents by voting for “easy-peasy climate bills – the ones that look good, but have no meat.”
“If you’re going to be in the Climate Caucus, you need to vote that way,” said Spahr. “You actually have to vote for protective measures that would implement climate change initiatives rather than voting against them to appease your donors and their pollution-emitting bottom line.”