Friend, I just wanted to make sure you saw my email from last week about our plan to make Senate Majority Leader and unabashed coal lover Mitch McConnell not just famous, but infamous at this year's Kentucky Derby. Yesterday, Mitch made a guest appearance at a Senate subcommittee hearing to reveal his latest ploy to block President Obama's plan to fight climate change.1 According to Captain Coal, states that work together to save money and administrative work in order to comply with the President's Clean Power Plan will require Congressional approval. Even though legal scholars have concluded that McConnell's new idea for obstruction is totally off base,2 he could use this argument to delay or deny implementation of vital efforts to clean up our air and climate for years, unless he's shamed into stopping his coal campaign. It's one thing to try and stop Kentuckians and the rest of the country from realizing a clean air future, but Mitch's unwavering love and new plan to block clean air sure sounds a lot like thwarting the democratic process. Talk about an unhealthy relationship, literally. But there's a silver lining to all of this -- McConnell's latest desperation is a sign that we are getting to him. Between the nearly 30,000 members like you who have told him to stop his obstruction and donated to this cause, we are clearly getting into Mitch's head. But we still need your help if we are going to get our message through the home stretch. It's not often you see a Senate Majority Leader riding on public transit. But, with your help we can put Mitch on a bus where he belongs, by placing our message for him to butt out of the Clean Power Plan on public buses in Louisville. Can you please chip in $50 or more to help make Mitch McConnell take a ride? Thank you for taking (environmental) Action, Anthony and the Kentucky Derby Clean Team P.S. you can read my full email from last week below. Friend, I am going to tell you something that seems obvious, but goes much deeper than you may know: Mitch McConnell Loves Coal! He'll say or do anything to make sure that we never ween ourselves off this dirty fuel that is the single largest air polluter in the U.S.1 First he sent a letter to all 50 governors telling them to ignore the President's Clean Power Plan, which would reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants.2 But a national campaign of lies was not enough for Mitch. Next, he told foreign leaders not to enter into a United Nations pact with the U.S. to reduce our global warming emissions by 28 percent, even though other nations promised to make cuts too.3 But here's the embarrassing secret about Mitch's coal derby: Kentucky regulators and utilities are already planning to comply with the president's ambitious plan to move away from coal and protect our health and climate.4 So I came up with a plan to help send Mitch a message: Kentuckians are ready for a clean energy future, so stop trying to obstruct the inevitable. Now picture this -- a fleet of public transit buses in Kentucky's largest city, Louisville, carrying a huge advertisement telling Mitch McConnell to get off his ass coal. If we can plaster that message on a fleet of public transit buses during Kentucky's biggest event of the year, the Kentucky Derby, you can be sure that Mitch will hear and see it for himself. Can you please chip in $50 or more to help Mitch McConnell get BUS(ted)?
Mitch McConnell keeps trying to sound a false alarm that cleaning up coal-fired power plants would cost Kentucky and the country jobs. But according to the Bureau for Labor Statistics the coal industry employs only 0.06% of U.S. private sector workers. And even in Mitch's home state of Kentucky, only 0.64% of the state's workforce is employed by the coal industry.5 It's clear that the only thing Mitch loves more than coal is the money that the coal industry keeps giving him. During the 2013-2014 election cycle, the coal industry gave Mitch nearly $300,000, which was three times more than they gave to the second highest recipient.6 It's a classic case of quid pro coal. That's why at this year's Kentucky Derby, we want to show Mitch McConnel that when it comes to our energy future, he's simply backing the wrong horse. Kentuckians are betting on real stallions of clean energy like solar, wind and geothermal. With your help, we can let Mitch know that when it comes to the Clean Power Plan, his stance is ass backwards. Please click here and chip in whatever you can to get these buses rolling to the derby. Thanks for all that you do, Anthony and the Kentucky Derby Clean Team 3. Cama, Timothy. McConnell Warns Countries Against UN Climate Plan. The Hill. March 31, 2015. 5. United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014. 6. Center for Responsive Politics, Coal Mining: Top Recipients. |
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