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Please Help Reduce Toxins In MassachusettsCall Your State Rep Today!
Dear UCC Friends,
You may have seen recent TV coverage of toxins in baby bottles, childrens’ toys, personal care products and hundreds of other consumer products. Isn’t this great – after all these years things are moving!! THANKS for all of you – your help has been a part of the success we achieved in passing the Safer Alternatives bill in the Senate this Spring. As you may know, our own MA Conference Minister Rev. Jim Antal was part of a select group of 30 people in the U.S. who took a leadership role on this issue.
Because of so many people coming together, we in MA have the potential of winning greater protection of our health, children and the environment by passing the Safer Alternatives bill. YOU are needed once again!!! Please call or email your State Representative right away! Ask him/her to help pass the Safer Alternatives bill to reduce toxic chemicals. The Safer Alternatives bill will help MA businesses stop using toxic chemicals that contribute to cancer, brain damage, infertility, learning disabilities and many other illnesses. We will protect our health, children and the environment AND help businesses reduce toxic waste and compete better in the global marketplace. The SA bill calls on government to help and require manufacturers to replace toxic chemicals with safer alternatives wherever feasible. Please call your State Representative today and ask them to sign the letter to Speaker DiMasi calling for the Safer Alternatives Bill to be voted on and passed by the MA House of Representatives. (Don't know who your state representative is? Go to www.wheredoivotema.com.) How to Call:Dial 617-722-2000 (House switchboard). Ask to be connected to your Representative’s office. When the office answers: May I speak to Rep. _____? If s/he is not in, ask: Then, may I speak to their legislative aide? If they don't know, say: Could you call me back and let me know whether the representative will sign the letter supporting the Safer Alternatives bill? How to Email:Dear Rep. ____, I am one of your constituents, living in (town). I'm writing to ask you to support S-2481, the Safer Alternatives Bill. I’m concerned about rising cancer, neurological damage, learning disabilities, infertility, asthma and other illnesses that scientists say can come from exposure to toxic chemicals. Rep. Eldridge has signatures from over 55 legislators on a letter to House Speaker DiMasi asking DiMasi to support and pass the bill. I’m contacting you to ask that you please sign Rep. Eldridge's letter by 5:00 TODAY, FRIDAY, MAY 23. Will you do that, and will you work hard to help ensure passage of the Safer Alternatives bill? Please let me know whether you have signed Rep. Eldridge’s letter supporting the Safer Alternaitves bill. (If you are not signing, I would appreciate knowing why.) The Safer Alternatives bill is a modest effort that will help Massachusetts businesses make the transition to safer manufacturing so that they can continue selling products to Europe. Reducing toxic chemicals will protect our health, children’s development and the environment. Please let me know by Wednesday whether you are signing the letter. Thank you very much. Tell us what you find out! Contact Elizabeth at: esaunders@cleanwater.org or 617-338-8131 x203.Please encourage other people to call! Ask friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and colleagues to join you in calling their state representative and asking him/her to sign the letter for the Safer Alternatives bill.We won an excellent bill in the Senate, but unless we citizens urge our representatives to act to reduce toxic chemicals, chemical industry lobbyists will kill the bill. About the Safer Alternatives Bill:The Safer Alternatives Bill (S-2481An Act to Promote Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals), sponsored by Representative Jay Kaufman and Senator Steven Tolman, will establish a pragmatic, gradual approach to reducing health impacts from many toxic chemicals we are exposed to in everyday life. This approach targets the worst toxic chemicals in Massachusetts - chemicals that are currently replaceable with safer alternatives for many uses. The bill mandates a careful process to evaluate alternatives and replace toxic chemicals with safer alternatives where feasible. It also stimulates research and development on new technologies and solutions when a safer option is not currently workable. For workers and businesses, it proposes programs to assist in the transition, funded through a fee on toxic chemicals. It was passed unanimously by the Senate on January 29th. It is currently before the House Committee on Ways and Means. Representatives Eldridge, Kulik & Conroy wrote a sign-on letter to Speaker DiMasi asking him to move the Safer Alternatives Bill out of committee and get it to a vote so that it can PASS before this legislative session ends. The chemical industry is fighting hard to stop this bill. They’re spreading misinformation about the bill to scare local businesses into opposing it. Now some of our legislators are getting caught in the middle. We, the citizens in each district, need to show our legislators that we want a healthy, safe environment AND support for businesses to make the transition, wherever possible, to safer alternatives to toxins. There may be some toxins that businesses have a difficult time, even with help from researchers and engineers, finding safer alternatives to toxins they use; this bill respects that challenge. The approach is to see how far we can go – how well we can do to move away from putting poisons in products and in our environment, food, and communities. The bill protects local businesses as well as our health, children and the environment. This is a win-win approach for local businesses and communities. Global chemical corporations that sell the poisons are the primary obstacle to a cleaner, safer, healthier world. We hope those mega-corporations will make the transition, too, and seek to develop “green chemistry” solutions, not hold onto the old toxins and old methods that are contributing to so much cancer, illness and damage to children. Thank you for calling or emailing! Please visit the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow's web site for other things you can do to help pass this bill. Sincerely,
Tina
Tina Carke Campaign Director New England Regional Office ***************
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