Call Congress for Safe Chemicals!

Make your voice heard in the halls of Congress!  Join fellow citizens from across the country calling for greater protection from toxic chemicals!  Call 1-877-573-7693. Today is the day!

Many people lament the hold industry lobbyists have on Congress, and the resulting inability to fix many of the problems that confront the nation – including the failure to adequately regulate our exposure to thousands of chemicals in everyday products.  And well they should.  Lobbying disclosure reports compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, and reported today by E&E Daily [subscription required] reveal that three industry heavyweights: Dow Chemical, DuPont, and the industry’s trade association, the American Chemistry Council (formerly known as the Chemical Manufacturers Association) spent $4 million dollars in the first quarter of this year on lobbying efforts, including TSCA reform, legislative efforts to restrict the use of Bisphenol A, and a proposal by EPA to increase public reporting on chemical use and exposure.  The report discloses that Dow reported spending $2.2 million on its lobbying efforts, and DuPont $1.2 million.  The trade association of the chemical manufacturers is on pace to spend roughly $8 million for the year, the same as it spent last year.

So, tens of millions of dollars are being spent to lobby Congress each year, much of it in opposition to strong proposals to protect public health and the environment from unsafe chemicals, and to expand the public’s right to know about what chemicals are used, where, and how people are exposed to them.

Is there a way to break the grip of the industry lobbyists on Congress (and the White House)?  YES!  The fastest, easiest, and most direct way to counter the gazillions of dollars (cumulatively) being spent to prevent chemical policy reform is to pick up your phone and call your Senators to demand reform that protects us from unsafe chemicals.  Specifically, and most urgently, call your Senators and urge them to co-sponsor the Safe Chemicals Act (S.847).

The Safe Chemicals Act would:

• Direct chemical companies to produce health and environmental data for chemicals;
• Require chemicals to meet a safety standard to remain on the market;
• Give EPA greater authority to require testing of chemicals and to take action to protect the public from those that are unsafe;
• Expand public access to information about chemicals, including their potential effects as well as uses and likely sources of exposure;
• Ensure EPA decisions are made based upon the most up to date science and methods of assessing the risks of chemicals;
• Promote action to clean up those communities that have been hardest hit by significant and disproportionate exposure to toxic chemicals.

Hundreds of health, science, consumer and environmental organizations that are part of The Safer Chemical Healthy Families campaign are participating in today’s National Call-in Day for Safer Chemicals.  You can add your voice to thousands of others calling for reform by calling 1-877-573-7693.  Call today!