EPA PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD TILL 11MAR16: End the oil and gas industry's free pass to spew dangerous chemicals into the air we breathe

Earth Justice

Shale deposits with potential for gas fracking are shown here in blue. Actual fracking sites appear as orange, heaviest in the Pennsylvania/New York region featured in Promised Land.
BENZENE is just one of the extremely hazardous chemicals released in the air by fracking and oil and gas drilling operations. The EPA is asking for public comments on their proposed regulations eliminating the loopholes that have allowed this level of air pollution to continue unabated. The last day to comment is 11 MAR 16, click the link to submit your comments to the EPA. This from +Earthjustice ...

TAKE ACTION! End the oil and gas industry’s free pass to spew dangerous chemicals into the air we breathe TAKE ACTION

Fracking and other oil and gas operations emit chemicals that cause cancer, brain damage and birth defects—often with little or no oversight. Tell the EPA we need stronger protections from hazardous air pollution now.

Earthjustice has been fighting for decades in the courts and on Capitol Hill to defend the fundamental right to clean, breathable air. Along the way we’ve won major victories, but the oil and gas industry is still doing everything in its power to keep up its business-as-usual pollution. Today we need your help to close outrageous air pollution loopholes for fracking-fueled oil and gas operations. Benzene—a toxic petrochemical that actually smells “sweet”—has been linked to cancer, anemia, brain damage and birth defects, and is just one of many hazardous air pollutants produced by the oil and gas industry that needs to be reined in. In 2012 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began the job of trying to reduce toxic air pollution from the oil and gas industry. Now the agency is finally trying to finish what it started by asking the public to weigh in as it considers strengthening protections for the air we breathe. We have just days to demand strong protections from several hazardous air pollutants. Take action now before the deadline for public comment expires on March 11. Across the country, people live just a few hundred feet from oil and gas infrastructure that spews dangerous pollution like benzene freely into the air. In cities like Los Angeles and Houston, companies can even emit these carcinogenic, brain-damaging chemicals right next door to homes, schools and playgrounds. The EPA has the duty and the tools to close the loopholes that allow the oil and gas industry to blanket our communities in a fog of pollution, but the agency needs to hear from you now. Take action to end pollution loopholes for oil and gas operations, including fracking. This is the perfect opportunity to give communities relief from pollution that can cause cancer, respiratory and neurological problems, and birth defects. Sincerely,

Emma Cheuse Staff Attorney TAKE ACTION

DEMOCRACY NOW DAILY DIGEST 18FEB16

Thursday, February 18, 2016 democracynow.org

Stories Keep It in the Ground: Author Terry Tempest Williams Buys 1,750 Acres of Oil & Gas Leases in Utah In Utah, more than 100 protesters disrupted a federal auction of oil and gas leases, spontaneously bursting into song until they were forced to leave. Author and activist ... Read More → Apple vs. the FBI: Inside the Battle Snowden Calls "The Most Important Tech Case in a Decade" A major debate over privacy and online encryption has erupted after the computer giant Apple announced it will resist a court order to help the FBI break into an iPhone ... Read More → Targeting Transgender Children, South Dakota Passes Transphobic School Bathroom Bill South Dakota could soon become the first state in the country to ban transgender students from using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. On ... Read More → What Is the Government Still Hiding? ACLU Continues Fight to Obtain Photos of Bush-Era Torture Earlier this month, the Pentagon released nearly 200 photographs relating to the abuse of prisoners by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan but refused to ... Read More → Headlines → Turkey: 28 Killed in Car Bomb Blast in Ankara White House: Obama to Visit Cuba in Next Few Weeks Pope Francis: "Flow of Capital Cannot Decide Flow & Life of People" Texas: U.S. Marshals Arrest Man over $1,500 Student Loan Debt Yemen: Journalist Killed in Taiz; Drone Strikes Kill 3 in Huta 2 LAPD Officers Charged with Sexually Assaulting Women While on Duty Report: NYPD Officers Not Complying with New Stop & Frisk Rules KY Rep. Introduces Bill Restricting Access to Erectile Dysfunction Treatment, in Response to Abortion Restrictions Report: Number of Hate Groups Surges Amid Election Cycle Marked by Hate Speech Bolivia: 6 Government Workers Die After Building Lit on Fire After Protest Libya: Thousands Celebrate Fifth Anniversary of Revolution Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in Feud over South Carolina Campaign Ad AFL-CIO Withholds Endorsing a Presidential Candidate NYC: Protest Against Beyoncé Turns into Pro-Beyoncé Rally Forward this email → Donate today →

Democracy Now! Daily Digest 17FEB16

Wednesday, February 17, 2016 democracynow.org Stories "Thirsty for Democracy: The Poisoning of an American City": Special Report on Flint's Water Crisis Today, we go to Flint, Michigan, for a Democracy Now! special on the ongoing Flint water crisis. In 2014, an unelected emergency manager appointed by Michigan ... Read More → Michigan's Water Wars: Nestlé Pumps Millions of Gallons for Free While Flint Pays for Poisoned Water As Flint residents are forced to drink, cook with and even bathe in bottled water, while still paying some of the highest water bills in the county for their poisoned water, we turn to ... Read More → What Did GM & the Governor Know? GM Stopped Using Flint Water Over a Year Before Emergency Declared In October 2014, General Motors recognized the Flint water was corroding its engines. They got permission from the city's unelected emergency manager—who was appointed ... Read More → Meet the Flint Official Whose Bid to Restore Safe Drinking Water Was Blocked by an Unelected Manager To learn more about how how Flint ended up with an unelected emergency manager, we spoke with Flint City Councilmember Eric Mays. Eleven months ago, in March ... Read More → Inside How Citizens, Journalists, Doctors & Scientists Exposed the Flint Water Crisis Cover-up We speak with Curt Guyette of the ACLU of Michigan. He is an investigative reporter who was just named Michigan Journalist of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. ... Read More → Headlines → Obama Says He Will Tap "Indisputably Qualified" Candidate for Supreme Court Poll Shows Sanders, Clinton Tied in Nevada Ahead of Caucus U.N. Says Yemen Faces "Humanitarian Catastrophe" with Over 6,000 Dead Cuba and U.S. Sign Deal to Restart Commercial Flights for 1st Time in 50 Years Utah: Author Terry Tempest Williams Buys 1,750 Acres of Oil & Gas Leases to Block Drilling South Dakota Could Become 1st State to Pass Anti-Transgender Bathroom Bill Chicago: 12 Arrested After Blocking Traffic to Protest Deportations Providence College Students Stage Sit-in over Racism on Campus Boutros Boutros-Ghali, 1st U.N. Secretary-General from Africa, Dies at 93 Forward this email → Donate today →

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