Slogans get our attention. Substance gets our endorsement.
I’m sure you’ve heard plenty about the US Senate race lately. I know I have.
So, I’d like to do something a bit different – going right to just some of the priorities and policies that earned Dr. Abdul El-Sayed a Clean Water Action endorsement.
If you need more information to make your decision and protecting clean water and public health is as much a priority for you as it is for us, I hope you read below. If you’re convinced, make sure you cast or return your ballot before election day ends at 8pm on August 4th and support our other Clean Water Action endorsed candidates. If you’ve already voted – thank you! Please encourage others to do the same.
Make sure your Clean Water Voter voice is heard at the ballot box!
The damage done to our environmental and health protections in a few short years by the Trump administration has been devastating, but as a country we have put corporate interests above all else for far too long and it shows. We need lawmakers who are not only ready to fight to undo the damage done, but inspired to go above and beyond to create a sustainable thriving future for Michigan.
When Clean Water Action looked at the candidates, Abdul El-Sayed’s public health expertise and principled stand against corporate campaign dollars were evident:
Clean, Safe Drinking Water For All: Fully replacing all lead pipes in Michigan by 2030 with federal support and financial assistance for local communities. Setting strict standards for PFAS chemicals and other contamination in drinking water and consumer products. Federal action to invest in maintaining and upgrading aging water and sewage infrastructure.
Protecting Public Health – Not Polluter Profit: Making polluting corporations pay for cleanup costs, not taxpayers, through legislation such as the Polluter Pays Climate Fund Act. Supporting the Environmental Justice for All Act to protect low-income communities and communities of color from disproportionate pollution. Strengthening air quality standards so the cumulative impact of multiple sources of pollution in a community are considered. Defending the Toxic Substances Control Act from corporate lobbyists, while protecting the right of states like Michigan to enforce stronger than federal environmental protections.
Moving To A Clean Energy Future: Ending new fossil fuel extraction leases on public lands and coastlines. Bold federal policy and support to fully transition to 100% clean, renewable energy to take on the climate crisis, air pollution, and lower energy costs long term. Federal investment to create good paying jobs in wind, solar, and geothermal energy and support for research into new energy and battery technology, and a just transition for workers. Ensuring investments are being delivered to communities that have born the burden of fossil fuel pollution.
Holding Corporations Accountable: Extended producer responsibility laws to move the responsibility of managing waste from taxpayers to manufacturers. Strong protections against data centers including no rate hikes, no clean energy loopholes, closed loop cooling systems to protect local water resources, enforceable energy reliability and substantive community benefits agreements including local infrastructure improvements, and complete transparency in the process with meaningful community input.
Undoing Damage To Critical Safeguards: Overturning the devastating Sackett v EPA decision, restoring Clean Water Act protections for the wetlands and streams that feed our drinking water sources, through legislative action. Restoring the Endangerment Finding, the legal basis (supported by science) by which EPA determined that the danger to public health and welfare was sufficient to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Properly funding and restoring brutal staffing cuts to oversight agencies like the EPA to actually hold polluters accountable and protect public health.
Protecting Our Great Lakes: Shutting down the Line 5 oil pipeline. Fully funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative with investments in fighting invasive species, reducing runoff that feeds toxic algal blooms, and cleaning up contaminated sites.
Our teams in both Michigan and Washington DC evaluated all candidates and agreed: Abdul El-Sayed is the best candidate to represent Michigan in the United States Senate. In Michigan, his public health work in Detroit has been admirable. His commitment in his own campaign to refusing donations from DTE, Consumers, or any corporate PAC money and enthusiastic support of the Michiganders For Money Out Of Politics ballot initiative has shown his understanding of the biggest systematic problem in our representative democracy today - that too many lawmakers are doing what’s best for corporate profit, not what’s best for us.
It’s time to change that.
The Trump Administration has been a disaster for our environment and that destruction will continue until we repair the damage done. But that’s only the beginning.
We need lawmakers who can take us further. Who have a strong moral compass that puts people before polluters, with expertise in what is needed, and a course charted. Who are ready to move us towards a future where our environment is protected, our communities are thriving, and our families are healthier.
The choice is clear – a vote for Abdul El-Sayed is a vote for Clean Water.
Paid for and authorized by Clean Water Action for distribution to its members. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contact us at cleanwateraction.org or (734) 222-6347.
