View the ad criticizing Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) launched a Facebook ad campaign criticizing Senator Rob Portman for his votes last week on two Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval, S.J. Res. 23 and S.J. Res. 24 that would permanently block the EPA from limiting the amount of carbon pollution power plants can spew into our air. The Facebook ad is targeted to Ohio, and will run for one week. The ad is part of a larger $25,000 Facebook ad campaign that aims to hold senators accountable for their votes against the Clean Power Plan.

“Senator Portman has chosen to put polluters’ profits ahead of the health of Ohio’s families,” said Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters. “He voted to let big polluters continue dumping unlimited carbon pollution into our air, making it harder to breathe for the over two million Ohioans who suffer from asthma.”

“Senators voting for these measures have effectively put themselves in the camp of the climate change deniers who refuse to act,” he continued. “These resolutions were a reckless attempt to deny the American people the public health and economic benefits provided by the Clean Power Plan. Fortunately, these votes were nothing more than a desperate and ultimately symbolic attempt to stop historic climate progress and undermine the momentum leading into the Paris international climate negotiations.”

On August 3rd, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Clean Power Plan, the first national limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants. At the same time, the EPA released the final carbon pollution reduction standards for new and modified power plants. Power plants are the single largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S., and these safeguards are the single biggest step we have ever taken to combat climate change. At the same time, carbon pollution is a public health concern that drives asthma rates and damages our economy. The Clean Power Plan has been embraced by a broad and diverse set of stakeholders—including utilities, public health experts, clean energy advocates and others. On November 17th, the Senate voted on two Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval, S.J. Res. 23 and S.J. Res. 24 that would not only block these common sense carbon pollution standards, but prevent the EPA from ever issuing “substantially similar” rules in the future. 

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