Senator Katherine Clark is a mother, Senator Sal DiDomenico is a father, Senator Ken Donnelly is a former firefighter, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz is concerned about the damaging effects that toxic chemicals can have on low-income communities in her district.  These senators have very personal reasons to support the Safer Alternatives Bill. They all want to vote for it.

The problem is they may never get that chance because many bills never get voted on.  This week, Senators have the opportunity to make it known that they want to vote for the Safer Alternatives Bill.

The Safer Alternatives Bill is currently before the Senate Ways and Means Committee (W&M). Senator Mark Pacheco has written a letter to W&M Chairman, Senator Stephen Brewer, to ask him to give the bill a "favorable report," and is inviting other senators to sign the letter with him.  Your can help by urging your senator to sign this letter.

right now, the pedernales electric cooperative has a great opportunity to help their members make improvements to their homes that can reduce their electric bills and create jobs for texans!

If you receive your energy from the PEC, ask the Board and Management to help customers like you  make their homes more energy efficient!

Here's why energy efficiency makes sense:

• it saves customers money by lowering electric bills;
• it saves all co-op members money co-op money by reducing the amount of energy the PEC needs to buy and distribute along its power lines;
• it protects the environment by reducing the amount of coal, natural gas and nuclear power we use to create electricity;
• it saves water, since conventional methods of producing electricity require millions of gallons of water to operate-- a vital consideration in this time of record drought;
• it provide jobs for the men and women who do the work – jobs that cannot be outsourced to other countries or even other states!

our wetlands and streams are at risk. the president can do something about that.
Today, nearly 20 million acres of wetlands are at risk. Because they lack protection under the Clean Water Act, these vital parts of our water infrastructure are vulnerable to destruction by unaccountable polluters. The President has proposed to fix this problem and protect ALL of our wetlands. We support him and we need you to join us. Here's why:

• Wetlands protect us from floods – one acre of wetlands can hold 1 million gallons of floodwaters
• They provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife
• Wetlands provide opportunities for outdoor recreation and support local economies

The solution is simple: update the Clean Water Act to cover ALL wetlands. The President and the EPA have a plan to do that. We just need to make sure they know how much you support protections for our wetlands.

Help us continue our clean water progress and contact the President today!

austin, once a leader on solar power, has fallen behind other cities like san antonio. 

Clean Water Action and our allies at Solar Austin support the Austin’s current goal of producing 200 MW of power from solar farms by 2020. But we also want to see the City add an additional 300 MW of solar on rooftops in the city of Austin. Here's why:

• rooftop solar does not require millions of gallons of water to produce energy like coal, natural gas and nuclear do -- a vital consideration in this time of record drought
• rooftop solar creates local jobs for solar installers
• rooftop solar builds wealth in the community by putting money back into the pockets of people who have panels installed on their homes and businesses
• rooftop solar saves the city money, since some of the up-front capital comes from the building owners themselves
• energy produced locally makes our city less vulnerable to brownouts and blackouts that can occur on hot summer afternoons, when solar panels are most productive
• energy produced locally avoids line losses that occur when moving energy over long distances, and avoids the costs associated with erecting and maintaining hundreds of miles of transmission lines

It's time for Austin to get serious about solar energy again!

We often don’t know if a child’s product contains cadmium, formaldehyde, or toxic flame retardants. Our power as consumers is limited because we aren’t given access to this information. Luckily, just before the holidays, Senator Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) gave us an early gift by introducing the Safe Children’s Products Act, a bill that will protect children from toxic chemicals in children’s products. 

Let’s start the year off right by limiting our families’ exposure toxic chemicals!

From all of us at Clean Water Action, Happy New Year!

The Massachusetts legislative session resumed this week, and protection from toxic chemicals should be a top priority for senators in 2012.

Please write your state senator and ask him or her to make a New Year's resolution to pass the Safer Alternatives Bill.

Senators will have thousands of bills to choose from this year. Let's make the Safer Alternatives Bill one of the first to grab their attention as they return to the State House.

drought, population growth, and a changing climate are straining central texas’ limited water resources.

Even with December's rainfall, most of Texas remains in extreme drought, and experts project that the drought will continue through the summer of 2012 and beyond.  As our population continues to grow, we will need to meet the needs of more people with a diminishing supply of water.

Contact your lawmakers today!

Conserving water is the best and most cost-effective way to meet future needs: Investing in conservation is far less expensive than piping water in from distant aquifers, expanding existing water treatment plants or building new reservoirs. It also helps assure that enough water remains on our lakes, rivers and aquifers to sustain wildlife.

clean water progress

Under current federal policies many water bodies are vulnerable to pollution and destruction. The Obama Administration has proposed to fix this problem but powerful special interests oppose this clean water progress. Last year, their allies in Congress attempted to block the Administration’s proposals several times last year. With your help we fended off those attacks.

We need your help again!

As 2012 begins, we need to remind the White House that people support clean water policies and that they need to keep this process moving.

Today parents, nurses, doctors, college students, and people like you are calling their Senators to ask for common sense limits on toxic chemicals. Join the fun, it only takes two minutes!

What You Can Do:

Massachusetts residents, call Senator Scott Brown and Senator John Kerry's Washington DC Offices (if you're from another state, call your own Senator!). A friendly staff member will answer the phone, or you’ll be asked to leave a message. Please ask our Massachusetts Senators to co-sponsor the Safe Chemicals Act and let them know what city or town you live in. Then report your call to us so that we can keep track.

Senator Brown: (202) 224-4543
Senator Kerry: (202) 224-2742