Steve Alesch Adopts Environmental Action Plan for First 100 Days in Office

WARRENVILLE, IL -- Congressional candidate Steve Alesch (IL-13) vows to push an environmental action plan developed by the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) for the first 100 days of the next administration and Congress.

Alesch, of Warrenville, is running against Republican incumbent Rep. Judy Biggert of Hinsdale, who has been a major friend of the energy industry.

"As a member of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, Biggert has been in a position for a long time to do something about rising fuel costs," said Alesch. "But in accepting $115,550 in campaign donations from the energy industry, she's turned her back on consumers."

Alesch notes that he does not accept corporate campaign contributions.

"This is a moral issue" he said. "Corporate campaign contributions are a form of soft bribery. How can you protect consumers when you owe your position in Congress to the very corporations that are ripping people off?"

"The choice is clear: Do we want someone who is in the pocket of an energy industry that is seeing record profits, or do we want someone who is going to stand up for ordinary citizens, who are struggling just to get by."

Titled "First 100 Days: Energy and Environmental Policy" and posted on the GPUS Web site, the recommended executive orders and legislation are addressed to the Green Party's national candidates. In Illinois, Alesch is one of 15 Green Party candidates for U.S. Congress.

"This proposal is both environmentally and consumer friendly. It will save our economy billions in health care costs, energy costs, and possible law suits," said Alesch. "Regardless of what you're talking about, doing the right thing always makes most fiscal sense."

Summary of major recommendations:

• Increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 60 mpg for cars and 45 mpg for light trucks by 2012, saving millions at the pump and protecting consumers from further gasoline price increases.
• Put a moratorium on new nuclear power plants, including the proposed GNEP plant that Biggert is actively lobbying for, which would jeopardize the health of millions and transform the Chicago suburbs into the world's nuclear waste dump.
• Put a moratorium on new coal fired-power plants; reduce by 90% the mercury emissions of coal-fired power plants by 2012; protect human health and the environment in the disposal of coal-fired power plant waste.
• Enact legislation to reduce CO2 and SO2 emissions by 80% by 2020
• Provide incentives for industry and citizens to reduce energy usethrough conservation and generate more renewable energy sources; enact a mandatory 25% renewable energy mix in the national grid by 2015; encourage all states to do the same (using oil and nuclear subsidy funds); encouraging local energy generation
• Require labeling of imported foods, foods with growth hormones, and foods produced by Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)
• Set a national phosphorus standard for all US waters that will protect steams from nutrient growth; strengthen bacteria standards to protect human health
• Stop export of any technology abroad for projects that involve fossil fuel or deforestation
• Protect the rights of Environmental Justice communities to be free from new proposals for permits that would potentially increase their burden of toxic contamination, and prioritize these communities for cleanup

The Eco-Action Committee credited Earl Hatley of Oklahoma with most of the writing of the recommendations, with significant contributions from Derek Iverson (California) and detailed discussion among all committee members. A full copy of the plan is available at: http://www.gp.org/committees/ecoaction/documents/First_100_Days.pdf.

CAMPAIGN NOTE:

Steve Alesch for Congress will have a table at the Will County Earth Day Event, May 18, in Lockport's Dellwood Park. See Event Details