|
Sierra Club Launches Radio Ads on Alito in Maine and Arkansas Washington, DC: The Sierra Club today began running radio ads in Maine and Arkansas drawing attention to the threat Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's Constitutional philosophy poses to environmental laws like the Clean Water Act. The ads will run through Monday, January 9--the start of Judge Alito's confirmation hearings. Scripts: (mp3's of the ads can be obtained by e-mailing david.willett@sierraclub.org) Sierra Club--Maine Radio :60 Growing up in Rumford, Ed Muskie was appalled by the pollution he saw poisoning Maine's rivers. As a US Senator, Ed Muskie wrote the Clean Water Act giving Congress the power to help states clean up their rivers and protect their drinking water. Today the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers are much cleaner because of his vision, but Muskie's legacy is now threatened. Supreme Court nominee Sam Alito doesn't believe Congress should have the authority to pass laws that protect most of our streams and wetlands -- or that citizens have a right to ensure our government enforces Clean Air and Water laws. A Washington Post analysis of Alito's record found that he ruled against efforts to enforce federal safeguards "most of the time." That's why we need Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to protect Maine's water and Ed Muskie's legacy -- by opposing the nomination of Sam Alito. There's just too much at stake to give Alito a lifetime seat on America's highest Court. Paid for by the Sierra Club
Sierra Club--Arkansas Radio :60 Arkansas has 9,000 miles of streams and rivers. Many of them--including the Buffalo, Saline and Ouachita Rivers where our families fish, camp and canoe--have benefited from the Clean Water Act -- a measure passed over thirty years ago giving Congress the power to help states clean up polluted rivers and protect their drinking water. But now those protections are threatened -- Supreme Court nominee Sam Alito doesn't believe Congress should have the authority to pass laws that protect most of our streams and wetlands -- or that citizens have a right to ensure our government enforces Clean Air and Water laws. A Washington Post analysis of Alito's record found that he ruled against efforts to enforce federal safeguards "most of the time." That's why we need Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor to protect Arkansas' rivers and drinking water -- by opposing the nomination of Sam Alito. There's just too much at stake to give Alito a lifetime seat on America's highest Court. Paid for by the Sierra Club Background: Sierra Club's opposition to Judge Alito's confirmation rests on his Constitutional philosophy as expressed in opinions that threaten both the ability of Congress to pass laws to protect the environment, and the ability of citizens to enforce those laws. In U.S. v. Rybar, Judge Alito dissented from a decision upholding Congress' power under the Commerce Clause to regulate possession of machine guns. Coming after six other federal appeals courts had upheld the same law, his reasoning is extremely troubling. This is not an abstract Constitutional issue; if confirmed, Judge Alito would be ruling on two Clean Water Act cases now pending before the Supreme Court on whether this same Constitutional provision -- the Commerce Clause -- gives Congress the authority to protect any of America's streams and wetlands (US v. Rapanos and US v. Carabell). This same philosophy could also eventually jeopardize all of the environmental laws that protect clean air, clean water, endangered species and more. Judge Alito has also ruled (in Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) v. Magnesium Elektron) that the Constitution barred citizens from enforcing the Clean Water Act even against a company that admitted it had been violating the law for years. The Magnesium Elektron decision threatened to effectively put a stop to most Clean Water Act enforcement. Fortunately, the Supreme Court effectively reversed this decision three years later in another case. Sierra Club, in coordination with our fellow environmental groups and the Coalition for a Fair & Independent Judiciary, will be mobilizing its members around the country to call on their Senators to vote no on Alito's confirmation. Senators from both political parties must take this responsibility seriously and not be a rubber stamp for the President's choice. ###
David Willett National Press Secretary Sierra Club (202) 675-6698 (w) (202) 491-6919 (m) david.willett@sierraclub.org www.sierraclub.org |
