WHY WE MUST TAKE ACTION

Burning coal and oil causes pollution that creates serious, life-threatening health problems, inflicting children with asthma, stifling childhood development, and cutting short thousands of lives.

As we've seen time and time again, with situations like the BP oil disaster in the Gulf, Big Oil and Dirty Coal can’t be trusted to police themselves. To these polluters, our health matters less than their profits. They want to continue polluting with no limits and at the cost of our health.

Fortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency exists to enforce much needed safeguards that can stop polluters from making us sick.

In the 40 years since Americans demanded its creation, EPA has saved millions of lives by enforcing clean air and water standards. More than 1.7 million asthma attacks and $110 billion in healthcare costs were avoided in 2010 alone thanks to the agency's efforts.

Pollution is making us sick, but if our public officials will stand up to Big Oil and Big Coal’s assault on the safeguards that Americans overwhelmingly support, our prognosis is excellent.

To protect the health of our families, the Sierra Club is mobilizing our 1.4 million members and supporters in a national effort to Stop Polluters. Together we can send a message to our public officials and President Obama: Both the physical well-being of our families and the economic well-being of our nation depend on enforcing strong public health standards.