The environmental activist community has found their top target in U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R. IL):
http://www.webwire.com/...
Sierra Club announced Monday morning that it has launched an aggressive regional ad campaign calling out Illinois’ U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for voting against public health and clean air in Congress by attacking the Clean Power Plan three times in June. The nation’s largest grassroots environmental organization kicked off a weeklong newspaper and digital ad blitz with a full-page advertisement in the print edition of Monday’s Daily Herald, the largest exclusively suburban newspaper in the Chicago area, which serves 90 communities in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties.
“Senator Mark Kirk voted repeatedly against the health of Illinois families by attacking the Clean Power Plan, the first ever steps to limit carbon pollution from dirty, coal-fired power plants” said Liz Perera, Sierra Club Climate Policy Director. “The Clean Power Plan’s efforts to curb carbon pollution will help prevent up to 6,600 deaths and up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children every year. That’s why the majority of Illinoisans support the Clean Power Plan. Senator Kirk needs to stand with his constituents, not with the polluters that are hurting their health.”
During a June 2015 meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Kirk voted to block key parts of the Clean Power Plan on two key amendments, and ultimately voted in favor of the final bill in committee despite it including multiple attacks designed to weaken the plan and other clean air safeguards. - Web Wire, 7/6/15
And it's not just the Sierra Club targeting Kirk:
http://chicago.suntimes.com/...
The Natural Resources Defense Council is spending $1 million on a television ad, starting Tuesday, attacking Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., for a vote he made allowing states to opt out of federal rules dealing with power plants and the environment.
The ad, which blisters Kirk for “protecting polluters,” is the latest blast from environmental groups that want to keep pressure on Kirk as he faces what is likely going to be a tough re-election battle in 2016.
The spot will run through July 17 on Chicago broadcast and cable markets. It targets female voters who may be considered especially persuadable when it comes to claims that Kirk is weak on the environment. The cable buy includes HGTV, Lifetime, the Food Network and OWN, all with programming aimed at women.
At issue is a June vote Kirk made in the Senate Appropriations Committee, which was debating a giant piece of legislation: the $30 billion fiscal 2016 spending for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department.
Kirk, a member of the panel, had a provision in the Interior spending measure he was championing — a ban on sewage dumping into the Great Lakes by 2035. Kirk has worked on protecting Lake Michigan since he was a member of the House.
The sewage ban is one of his signature issues.
Nonetheless, Kirk was a key vote against an amendment by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., which would have taken out of the EPA bill the provision letting states opt out of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. Udall would have prevailed if Kirk sided with him.
Environmental groups said the plan, a crucial element in dealing with climate change, would be weakened if all states did not participate. - Chicago Sun-Times, 7/6/15
Environmental groups are hitting Kirk hard on this issue:
http://thehill.com/...
“Sen. Mark Kirk voted repeatedly against the health of Illinois families by attacking the Clean Power Plan, the first ever steps to limit carbon pollution from dirty, coal-fired power plants” Liz Perera, the Sierra Club’s climate policy director, said in a statement, adding that the majority of people in Illinoi support the regulation.
“Sen. Kirk needs to stand with his constituents, not with the polluters that are hurting their health,” she said.
The Sierra Club’s campaign comes a week after the League of Conservation Voters launched its own ads against Kirk.
Kirk, once an ally to greens, is now a top target for them, after moves that they say turned him against climate and environmental policies. - The Hill, 7/6/15
Kirk is a top target next year and he's going to fight hard to keep his seat. We can defeat him. I'm backing Rep. Tammy Duckworth's (D. IL) campaign. Click here to donate and get involved with her campaign:
http://tammyduckworth.com/