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Menendez, Booker Join Colleagues, Former Members of Congress in Filing Amicus Brief in Support of President Obama's Clean Power Plan

Press Release

By: Ben Cardin, Mazie Hirono, Jeanne Shaheen, Dianne Feinstein, Jeff Merkley, Bob Casey, Jr., Jim McGovern, Karen Bass, Louise Slaughter, Debbie Dingell, Diana DeGette, Eliot Engel, Jared Huffman, Peter DeFazio, Dick Durbin, Chris Coons, Angus King, Jr., Brian Schatz, Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell, Cory Booker, Janice Hahn, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Martin Heinrich, Ed Markey, Richard Blumenthal, Mark Warner, Sheldon Whitehouse, Patty Murray, Lois Frankel, Jan Schakowsky, John Conyers, Jr., Gregory Meeks, Carolyn Maloney, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Kurt Schrader, Jim Himes, Jared Polis, Bill Keating, Niki Tsongas, Doris Matsui, Dan Kildee, Mark DeSaulnier, Mike Quigley, Raul Grijalva, Patrick Murphy, Julia Brownley, Anna Eshoo, Bobby Rush, Ben Luján, Jr., Lois Capps, Nancy Pelosi, Mike Doyle, Jr., Joe Courtney, Tammy Duckworth, Earl Blumenauer, Mike Honda, Suzan DelBene, Hakeem Jeffries, Rosa DeLauro, Tammy Baldwin, Debbie Stabenow, Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Sherrod Brown, Patrick Leahy, Dina Titus, Nita Lowey, Chellie Pingree, Steny Hoyer, Alan Grayson, Brendan Boyle, Jerry Nadler, Donna Edwards, Kilili Sablan, David Cicilline, Robin Kelly, Cedric Richmond, Jim Clyburn, John Larson, Steve Israel, Mark Takano, Keith Ellison, Ed Perlmutter, Betty McCollum, Corrine Brown, Ted Deutch, Danny Davis, G. K. Butterfield, Jr., Derek Kilmer, André Carson, Don Beyer, Jr., Jim Langevin, John Carney, Jr., Ted Lieu, Brenda Lawrence, John Yarmuth, Bob Menendez, Ron Wyden, Al Franken, Harry Reid, Bernie Sanders, Michael Bennet, Tom Carper, Tim Kaine, Bob Brady, Ruben Gallego, Scott Peters, Loretta Sanchez, Charlie Rangel, Mark Pocan, Ami Bera, Tony Cárdenas, Jackie Speier, Mark Takai, Sean Maloney, Stephen Lynch, Dave Loebsack, Zoe Lofgren, Grace Meng, Katherine Clark, Luis Gutiérrez, Adam Schiff, Sam Farr, Judy Chu, Frederica Wilson, Seth Moulton, Joe Heck, Jr., Alan Lowenthal, Joe Kennedy III, Elizabeth Esty, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Frank Pallone, Jr., Maxine Waters, Xavier Becerra, Bill Foster, Cheri Bustos, Suzanne Bonamici, Joaquin Castro, José Serrano, Mike Thompson, John Delaney, John Sarbanes, Dutch Ruppersberger, Chris Van Hollen, Jr., Beto O'Rourke, Joe Crowley, Grace Napolitano, Donald Norcross, Annie Kuster, Kathy Castor, Elijah Cummings, Alcee Hastings, Sr., Pete Aguilar, Juan Vargas, John Garamendi, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Susan Davis, Raul Ruiz, Hank Johnson, Jr., Gwen Moore, Don Payne, Jr., Alma Adams, Dan Lipinski, Kathleen Rice, Albio Sires, Emanuel Cleaver II, Brian Higgins, Barbara Lee, Sandy Levin, Eric Swalwell, Gerry Connolly, Richard Neal, Steve Cohen, Jim McDermott, Jerry McNerney, Matt Cartwright, Brad Sherman, Sheila Jackson Lee, Chaka Fattah, Sr., John Lewis, Eleanor Norton, Linda Sánchez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Paul Tonko, Peter Welch, Eddie Johnson
Date: April 1, 2016
Location: Newark, NJ
Issues: Environment

U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-NJ) today joined a bipartisan group of 44 current and former Senators and 164 current and former House members -- including a former Republican Senator and former Republican House Member -- from 38 states as well as the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands in filing an amicus brief in support of the Obama administration's historic "Clean Power Plan' (CPP). The CPP will reduce carbon pollution and address climate change, save consumers $155 billion by 2030, create jobs, and prevent 90,000 childhood asthma attacks through 2030‎. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is considering a challenge to the rule in West Virginia et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency.

The full text of the amicus brief filed today can be found here and a full list of the 208 current and former members of Congress that signed can be found below.

The amicus brief, filed by Congressional Democrats today, argues that the Clean Power Plan rule is consistent with the text, structure, and legislative history of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Further, it argues that the rule is consistent with the goal of the CAA to "protect the Nation's air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population." Indeed, according to the brief, the Supreme Court has already affirmed that the EPA has clear authority to combat carbon pollution and regulate greenhouse gasses under Massachusetts v. EPA and American Electric Power v. Connecticut.

While Congressional Republicans continue to refuse to acknowledge the existence of climate change and do the bidding of special interests who seek to stop action on climate change, a bipartisan group of current and former members of Congress as well as a broad coalition that includes legal experts, environmental groups, states and cities, and businesses including energy companies recognize the necessity and legality of the CPP, which will protect public health, and grow the clean energy economy of the future. A failure to act on climate change will also lead to more frequent extreme weather -- from more severe droughts and wildfires in the west, to rising sea levels and more powerful hurricanes along our coastlines.


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