Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–June 28, 2012. Today, details of the Transportation Bill Conference Report under consideration by House and Senate conferees were revealed. Congress is expected to vote on the deal this week.
In response, the Sierra Club released the following statement from Executive Director, Michael Brune:
“Led by Senators Reid and Boxer, the Senate rightly rejected attempts by House Republicans to attach unrelated and damaging poison pills to this bill that would have gutted coal ash safeguards and approved of the dangerous Keystone XL pipeline.
Thanks to Senate leadership, Congress had the real opportunity for a strong, bipartisan bill
that would have put our transportation system on the path to the 21st Century. Unfortunately, House Republican ideologues sabotaged this chance, proving again they are willing to sacrifice millions of jobs to advance their radical agenda.
By being willing to walk away from three million American jobs, House Republicans extracted concessions that will keep our transportation system stuck in reverse. By rolling back critical environmental review laws, they’ll curtail the public’s ability to have a say on highway and bridge projects in their communities. By undermining efforts to make biking and walking safer and keep our roads and bridges in good repair, they’ve done their best to ensure we remain dependent on oil and a crumbling infrastructure.
When you have extremists in Congress willing to derail the country to push their reckless ideology refusing to negotiate with Senate leaders who want to act to save jobs, the results are grim. Now, we’re left with a must-pass bill stripped of its potential. One of the few good things you can say about this bill is that it could have been worse.”
Source: sierraclub.org
