A Republican and a Democratic senator who both face re-election in 2012 are coming under attack for their votes to reduce the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory power.
The League of Women Voters are setting their sights on Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO), launching television ads slamming the two for an April 6 vote which would have limited the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The budget amendment ultimately failed.
The ad targeting Brown features a young girl wearing a breathing mask and ominously asks what would happen to her if the measure had passed. “When Scott Brown voted to eliminate clean air standards that reduce smokestack and tailpipe emissions, just imagine what it could have done to her,” a voice-over reads. “Here in Massachusetts, clean air standards prevent thousands of hospital visits, serious asthma-related illnesses and even deaths. Scott Brown should protect the people, not the polluters.”
The McCaskill ad features similar language, also focusing on the impact of greenhouse gases on children’s health.
The website that viewers are directed to, www.PeopleNotPolluters.org, lists the legislators who have voted to block EPA regulatory power, how much money each legislator has received from ‘polluters’ (defined as contributions include those from oil and gas, electric utility, and coal and mining sectors) and the number of children with asthma in that state.
See the videos here:
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