WASHINGTON, April 15, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As
Mitch McConnell marks his first 100
days as Senate majority leader, the NRDC Action Fund today
unleashed an ad blasting him for standing with "dirty polluters,"
and introduced a first-of-its-kind website enabling users to track
dirty votes by members of Congress and campaign contributions from
polluting industries.
The five figure "100 Days of McConnell" ad, running on
social media channels, hits the Kentucky Republican for leading a GOP agenda
to try to dismantle the first-ever carbon pollution limits on power
plants. These standards, the ad's narrator says, "will save as many
as 6,000 lives per year, slow climate change, and are supported by
most voters."
At the same time, the WhoVotesDirty website,
www.whovotesdirty.com, enables users to identify the "villains"
throughout Congress who vote against clean air and climate action,
and the "heroes" who vote to protect communities and health. The
website, which encourages users to hold lawmakers accountable
through social media, also tracks contributions from dirty energy
interests.
"Senator McConnell's first 100 days of protecting polluters'
interests certainly do not bode well for his next 100 days. The
question is: Where will McConnell's fellow senators stand—with the
polluters or with families who want to protect their children and
their health?" said Heather
Taylor-Miesle, director of the NRDC Action Fund. "We're
shining a spotlight on those who vote against the best interests of
their constituents, who many times are in the dark about what's
happening in Washington. The time
has come to make sure that—unlike Las Vegas—what happens on Capitol
Hill doesn't just stay there.
"Clean air and climate protections are vital to protecting our
children's health and ensuring a brighter future for all
generations," Taylor-Miesle added. "And our new tracking system
will arm constituents with an easy to use tool to hold their
members accountable for voting against those life-saving interests,
and instead to protect dirty energy and dirty air."
The redesigned website uses sophisticated data from the
government watchdog group Sunlight Foundation and cutting-edge
data-gathering technology to provide real-time information to the
public and others revealing how members of Congress are voting on
clean air and climate action measures, as well as contributions
they receive from polluters from the oil & gas, electric
utility and coal mining sectors. The website encourages users to
hold members of Congress accountable by sharing the information
through social media channels.
"Who Votes Dirty is a compelling use of the legislative and
campaign finance information made available through our free and
open data offerings," said Amy Ngai,
the Partnerships and Training Director at the Sunlight Foundation.
"By using Sunlight Application Programing Interfaces (APIs), the
tool takes advantage of real-time data such as bill status and
voting records to provide a dynamic and interactive interface for
users."
The enhanced www.whovotesdirty.com is currently tracking 49
pieces of climate and clean air legislation and/or amendments in
Congress since September 2011. Based
on these votes, the website shows that 293 members of Congress are
dirty air villains. This includes 50 Senators and 243 House
members.
What makes a member of Congress a hero or villain? NRDC Action
Fund policy experts identify the votes that have the greatest
impact or potential to impact clean air and climate policy. Members
who vote against clean air 80 percent or more of the time are
considered "Dirty Air Villains." Those who vote to strengthen
protections 80 percent or more of the time are considered "Clean
Air Heroes." All other members have no assigned status.
Of the 243 Dirty Air Villains in the House 241 are Republicans
and two are Democrats. In the Senate, 49 Republicans are Dirty Air
Villains, and one Democrat is a Dirty Air Villain.
The upgraded WhoVotesDirty website utilizes several software
tools developed by the Sunlight Foundation. It is refreshed daily
and pulls voting records and polluter contributions for every
member of Congress. It allows a user to simply input his/her zip
code to quickly identify if his/her members of Congress are "Dirty
Air Villains" or "Clean Air Heroes."
Users can also utilize the name search function to find specific
lawmakers. And, through additional functionality, users can take
the data and tweet directly on Twitter to the member's official
twitter account.
The NRDC Action Fund will promote the site on a regular basis
and key votes on climate and clean air legislation. Promotion will
include paid online advertising, aggressive social media outreach
and earned media channels with reporters and bloggers throughout
the United States.
The WhoVotesDirty website can be viewed here:
www.whovotesdirty.com.
To view the McConnell 100 Days ad, please click here:
http://bit.ly/1GHYYjl
The text of the ad follows:
"Mitch McConnell spent his
first one hundred days as Senate leader trying to dismantle carbon
pollution standards.
"Standards that will save as many as 6,000 lives per year,
slow climate change, and are supported by most voters.
"He's taken more than three million
dollars from dirty polluters and has no plan to protect the
environment or public health.
"Will your senators stand with Mitch
McConnell and dirty polluters, or with families who want to
protect their children's health and future?
"Paid for by the NRDC Action Fund."
The NRDC Action Fund's mission is to grow the environmental
majority across America to achieve the passage of legislation that
jump-starts the clean energy economy, reduces pollution, and
sustains vibrant communities for all Americans. Now is the time for
leadership and action from our elected officials — our current goal
is a comprehensive clean energy policy that will repower our
economy and fuel our future. www.nrdcactionfund.org
The NRDC Action Fund is an affiliated but separate
organization from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). As
a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, the NRDC Action Fund engages in
various advocacy and political activities for which the Natural
Resources Defense Council, a 501(c)(3) organization, faces certain
legal limitations or restrictions. News and information released by
the NRDC Action Fund therefore needs to be identified as from the
NRDC Action Fund. Use of the label "Natural Resources Defense
Council Action Fund" is incorrect; the only correct title is the
"NRDC Action Fund." In other words, the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) and the NRDC Action Fund cannot be used
interchangeably. Also, please note that the word "National" does
not appear in Natural Resources Defense Council.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nrdc-action-fund-launches-ad-marking-mitch-mcconnells-first-100-days-unveils-website-showing-congressional-villains-and-heroes-on-climate--clean-air-300066424.html
SOURCE NRDC Action Fund, Washington,
DC