Press Releases

LCV Launches Ad Campaign Criticizing Senator Mark Kirk’s Votes Against Clean Power Plan

Jun 26, 2015

Urges Kirk to Support Effort to Cut Carbon Pollution

You can view the ad here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) today launched a $50,000 digital ad campaign criticizing Senator Mark Kirk for his recent votes against the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. The fifteen-second ad will premiere in the Chicago area Monday, where it will run for a week generating over one million views. Script and research backup here.

“Senator Mark Kirk has unfortunately made it very clear in the last few weeks that he is in Congress to serve big polluters, not the people of Illinois. He was the deciding vote to undermine the Clean Power Plan, the single biggest step in our nation’s history to address climate change,” said Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters.

“It has been a real disappointment to see Sen. Kirk’s once strong environmental record plummet in recent years,” said Karpinski. “While he acknowledged the reality of man-made climate change as part of amendments to this year’s Keystone XL bill and Budget Resolution, he is now blocking action that would limit carbon pollution, fight climate change and protect our health. In the coming weeks and months, he will continue to face additional important votes on this issue. It is not too late for Senator Kirk to do what is right for the people of Illinois and join the fight to take meaningful action on climate change.”

Senator Mark Kirk currently has a 20 percent on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard, having fallen from 70 percent in 2010.

On June 2, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled its Clean Power Plan, the first-ever national limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants. Power plants are the single largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S., responsible for approximately 40 percent of the pollution driving climate change. This critical step builds on steps the administration has taken to nearly double the fuel efficiency of cars, which will also significantly reduce carbon pollution and draft standards setting the first federal carbon pollution limits for new power plants.  On June 18, Senator Kirk voted in the Senate Appropriations Committee to effectively prevent the EPA from enacting the Clean Power Plan. In doing so, he opposed the pollution standards called for by two-thirds of his constituents.

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