Freedom from Oil Coalition Pushing for Clean Air, Secure Future in Sacramento Today

SACRAMENTO - Representatives from the Freedom from Oil coalition, which comprises Rainforest Action Network, Global Exchange and the Ruckus Society, were in Sacramento today to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to grant California’s request to enact the nation’s first law requiring cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution from cars and trucks. In a hearing last week in Washington, D.C., a broad spectrum of politicians, auto dealers, health and environmental advocates and scientists voiced support for California’s legal right to act to curb global warming pollution. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a group that lobbies on behalf of the auto industry, was the lone dissenter at the hearing.

“The auto industry’s assault on global warming regulation is appalling,” said Michael Brune, Rainforest Action Network’s executive director. “The industry that fought seat belts and air bags should not be allowed to impede the most ambitious climate cuts proposed in the US to date. If the automakers really cared about keeping customers, they would immediately stop lobbying against clean cars and start building them.”

California is one of a dozen states trying to take the bold action needed to curb global warming through strict regulation of tailpipe pollution. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is fighting such efforts by suing states that attempt to pass pollution regulations, and is currently lobbying against California’s request for the Clean Air Act waiver it needs to enact strict tailpipe emissions standards.

California, the world's fifth largest economy, is home to some 24 million motor vehicles, which are responsible for about 30 percent of the state's GHG pollution. The California Clean Cars Law would require a 30 percent cut in the GHG emissions of all vehicles sold in the state by 2016. A 2006 UC Berkeley study predicted that reducing California’s GHG emissions would create 17,000 new jobs and add $60 billion to the state’s gross domestic product by 2020.

“The whole world is talking about the impacts of global warming, yet the auto industry is determined to put the parking break on the most significant solution being considered in the country,” says Mike Hudema of Global Exchange. “The Environmental Protection Agency should protect human health and the environment, not cow to the interests of the auto and oil industries.”

Rally tomorrow to oppose Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers’ continued assault on state efforts to regulate global warming pollution

What: California health and environmental advocates will hold a rally outside the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers' (AAM) Sacramento offices on Thursday, May 31, to urge the auto industry's lobbying association to stop blocking state efforts to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from tailpipes.

WHEN: Thursday, May 31 at 11 a.m.

WHERE: Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers office, located at 925 L Street in Sacramento, CA.

WHO: Rainforest Action Network, Global Exchange, Union of Concerned Scientists, American Lung Association, Physicians for Clean Air, Environmental Defense and concerned Californians.

VISUALS: Gigantic balloon banner reading, "Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers: Driving Global Warming One Lawsuit at a Time."

For more information, visit www.FreedomFromOil.org.