Sen. Tom Carper with NWF's Brenda Archambo

Across America, hunters and anglers contribute more than $10 billion to fish and wildlife conservation, and in a typical year pump another $75 billion into the economy.

The EPA is acting now to limit carbon pollution. They need to hear from you that Americans support limits on carbon pollution to protect wildlife at risk.

Archambo Testifies in U.S. Senate Subcommittee

Click here to view the embedded video.

Positive Action on Industrial Carbon Pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent action to crack down on mercury pollution from power plants coupled with the proposed first-ever national limits on industrial carbon pollution is a milestone in the fight to rein in air pollution that is causing a warming climate that seriously threatens people and wildlife. These actions will provide certainty to businesses and investors, spur innovation and deployment of clean technologies, and help to ignite the revitalization of our manufacturing sector.

In addition to the threat of climate change to game species, sportsmen and women like me are particularly concerned about mercury. This harmful air toxic settles from the air onto our lakes, rivers, and forests, polluting the environment and accumulating up the food chain as fish and wildlife consume the contamination. This is a game changer that directly affects many species which are revered as part of our state’s angling, hunting and conservation heritage.

Last December, over 14,000 Michigan conservationists participated in a tele-town forum on the impacts of mercury pollution and the importance of the Environmental Protection Agency’s EPA’s new mercury and air toxics standards to protect our nation’s people and wildlife. The extent and effects of mercury pollution in the Great Lakes region is an issue of going concern among sportsman as there are over 204 fish consumption advisories in Michigan.

Take Action for Wildlife

Please, join me today to help create a better future for wildlife by sending a message to the EPA in support of limits to industrial carbon pollution and ensure that the legacy we leave our children is a clean and healthy planet.

Brenda Archambo at the EPA fuel efficiency public hearing in Detroit with NWF President Larry Schweiger (right) and Great Lakes Regional Center Director Andy Buchsbaum (left).

She and her grandpa heard a commotion at a nearby fishing shanty and ventured over to find a huge lake sturgeon on the ice. Looking into its eyes, she was awed by the huge prehistoric fish. Years later, she is still struck by the shared excitement of the anglers.

Now, Brenda honors her grandfather’s memory by making sure that ice-fishing can continue. As a farmer in Southeast Michigan, he worked from sunup to sundown–except for the one month each year he would spend ice fishing on Northern Michigan’s frozen lakes.

Brenda works with the National Wildlife Federation mobilizing Michiganders take action to protect northern lakes and wildlife from the impacts of climate change. She engages conservationists, hunters, anglers, youth groups and others to speak up for the future of wildlife and our conservation heritage.

Earlier this week, I spent a day with Brenda in Detroit at an Environmental Protection Agency public hearing, where she was voicing her support for cutting climate pollution from cars. The hearing was packed with people speaking in favor of proposed fuel efficiency standards that will cut the amount of gas used by cars, and reduce the carbon pollution in the U.S. by 10%.

Watch Brenda make the case for wildlife to the EPA:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Almost 13,000 NWF Action Fund supporters sent a message to the EPA in support of cutting carbon pollution from cars. Take action today!

Cross-posted from www.nwf.org/action.

Bob is a former member of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission and former executive producer and host of the flagship television show, Michigan Out-of-Doors. He has long been an advocate for Michigan’s great outdoors. Bob is also a life-long member of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, Michigan’s oldest and largest conservation organization and NWF affiliate.

“Safeguarding Michigan’s natural resources is important sportsman who hunt, fish and spend time in the wilderness, but it is also a wise investment in our economic future. Reducing mercury and air toxics will help protect our long standing investment in our outdoor heritage.”

Last week week, Michigan’s sportsmen and women joined Bob Garner and scientist Dr. Dave Evers on a tele-townhall dedicated to the discussion of safeguarding Michigan’s natural resources from impacts of mercury pollution on fish and wildlife.

Find out what Michigan fish are safe to eat.

Mercury settles from the air onto our lakes, rivers, and forests, polluting the environment and accumulating up the food chain as fish and wildlife consume the contamination. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin and is especially harmful to children—where exposure affects a child’s ability to walk, talk, read, and learn.

Take action before the July 5 deadline to protect loons, fish and other wildlife from toxic mercury pollution >>

Check out the video from the Environmental Protection Agency’s public hearing on mercury and air toxics in Chicago, where I testified in support of reducing toxic pollution from coal-fired plants:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Members of over 40 Michigan sportsman’s groups are also advocating for clean air and have joined together to oppose efforts to weaken one of our nation’s most critical health and environmental protections. The groups released a letter signed by 330 groups from across the U.S. calling on Congress to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to hold polluters accountable and back off House and Senate attacks on the Clean Air Act.

From left: Lance Weyeneth, Anglers of the Au Sable, Brenda Archambo, NWF and Dave Smethurst, Michigan Trout Unlimited.

“The Clean Air Act has been an incredibly useful tool for protecting trout and salmon habitat across the country,” said Dave Smethurst, Education Committee Chairman of Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited and Board member of Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited. “The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments cut substantially deposition of acid rain that was destroying brook trout habitat at a fraction of the anticipated costs to Americans.  We believe the Clean Air Act can be used in the same fashion to limit mercury and air toxics, as well as continue to help on the long standing fight against acid rain.”

Safeguarding our natural resources is important to those of us Michiganders who hunt, fish and spend time in the woods and on the waters, but it is also a wise investment in our economic future.