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Citizen Letter Campaign Urges U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez to Support Federal Climate Change Bill

May 20, 2009    

Citizen Letter Campaign Urges U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez to Support Federal Climate Change Bill

SAN ANTONIO – This week, a diverse group of activists dropped off hundreds of letters urging strong action on climate change to the office of U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-Texas), one of the key swing votes on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). This letter-writing campaign compliments letters sent from the City Council and mayor urging the congressman to support the bill’s original renewable electricity standard, energy efficiency resource standard and science-based cuts in global warming pollution.

In their letters, local constituents encourage Gonzalez to support a federal climate change bill that would cut carbon dioxide emissions 25 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050, increase investment in energy efficiency for low-income households, create hundreds of thousands of green jobs nationwide and set a 25 percent renewable energy standard. These are the same measures asked for by the mayor and City Council members.

Gonzalez, ignoring the pleas of his constituents and local leadership, is working to weaken key provisions of ACES. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is currently marking up the ACES bill, and Gonzalez will be voting daily on amendments.

“In its current form, ACES is a budget buster,” said Andy Wilson, Global Warming Program director of Public Citizen’s Texas office. “We need to move back to the original intent of this bill and President Obama’s campaign promise to make industry and utilities pay for 100 percent of their pollution credits.”

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