Friend,
Right now, we have an opportunity to flip the script on major polluters and make them responsible for cleaning up their mess.
One particularly urgent example: toxic Superfund waste sites, which threaten the health of millions of Americans. And they pose a growing risk of flooding into nearby communities due to climate change-induced extreme weather events.1
Congress is moving on legislation to make toxic waste polluters pay to clean up these sites -- but it's not a done deal yet, and there's still much more work to do to hold polluters accountable and protect public health from toxic waste.2
Today, you can double your impact on this crucial issue: Until midnight tomorrow, Sept. 30, your donation will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000 nationwide.
Thank you,
Faye Park
President
1. "Make Polluters Pay," U.S. PIRG, last accessed September 17, 2021.
2. "Senate votes to revitalize American infrastructure," U.S. PIRG, August 10, 2021.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: U.S. PIRG <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Sep 27, 2021
Subject: Imagine a future where polluters, not the public, pay to clean up their messes
To: Friend <[email protected]>
 |
Friend,
It's become business as usual: When corporations pollute our communities -- with plastic, with toxic waste, with dangerous pesticides and more -- everyday Americans end up being the ones to pay for it.
Enough is enough.
We're building momentum for a range of policies with one common purpose: to hold toxic polluters and waste producers responsible for cleaning up their mess. We've set a goal of raising $10,000 by midnight on Sept. 30 to ensure we have the resources we need to win. And from now through the deadline, your gift to PIRG will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000 nationwide.
Will you stand up to polluters and waste-makers by making a matched donation to PIRG today?
Here's one example of polluters skirting responsibility for their pollution: The plastics industry has known for decades that the vast majority of plastic -- upwards of 90% -- couldn't or wouldn't be recycled. And yet these companies have continued to push consumer recycling as a catch-all solution, rather than making more sustainable products or paying for recycling efforts themselves.1,2
All to sell more of the single-use plastics we don't even need in the first place.
Here's another: Right now, the financial burden of cleaning up Superfund toxic waste sites falls on American taxpayers rather than the polluters themselves. As a result, cleanup has slowed to a crawl, with serious consequences for public health. Not only do 1 in 6 Americans live near one of these dangerous sites, but climate change-induced weather events are making the areas more liable to flood into nearby communities.3
And one more: Bayer, which owns the weed killer Roundup, continues to maintain that Roundup's main ingredient glyphosate is safe -- despite the chemical being deemed "probably carcinogenic to humans" by the World Health Organization since 2015.4,5 Roundup remains on store shelves and in our public spaces, where it continues to threaten our health.
Friend, I know that sounds like a lot of bad news. But for each of these problems, U.S. PIRG is making progress toward concrete, effective solutions that focus on holding accountable those that pollute our communities with waste and toxic chemicals.
Double your impact by making a matched donation before midnight on Sept. 30.
Just look at the progress we've made toward a safer, cleaner, healthier future in the past year alone:
- Single-use plastics are out; producer responsibility is in. The numbers speak for themselves: Thanks in part to PIRG and our supporters, 33% of Americans now live in a state with a robust ban on one or more types of single-use plastic, and two states have recently enacted laws to make plastics producers financially responsible for the waste their products become.6,7 Plus, tens of thousands of Americans have sent messages and signed petitions urging major plastics producers such as Whole Foods and Coca-Cola to cut single-use plastics out of their operations. Donate now >>
- The vital "polluter pays" tax could be on its way back. This past summer, the U.S. Senate took a major step toward reinstating "polluter pays," a policy that requires toxic waste polluters to help pay for cleanup at Superfund sites.8 With this new chance to finally put the burden of toxic waste cleanup back where it belongs, years of PIRG advocacy for toxic-free communities is coming to fruition -- and it's that same advocacy that we know will put this crucial reform over the finish line. Donate now >>
- Bayer is on the ropes. Facing mounting legal pressure, the company has announced that it will remove glyphosate from Roundup by 2023.9 That's a big step forward, and citizen advocates like you helped make it possible -- but we can't celebrate just yet. We still shouldn't be allowing Roundup on store shelves unless it's proven safe by independent research. So we're still working for local and state bans on Roundup -- and with Bayer beginning to see the writing on the wall, we know we can win more progress toward a future where pesticides aren't allowed to put our health at risk. Donate now >>
Friend, will you help us raise $10,000 by midnight on Sept. 30 to keep all this work going strong in the months ahead? Donate before the deadline and your gift will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000 nationwide.
Thank you,
Faye Park
President
1. Laura Sullivan, "How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled," NPR, September 11, 2020.
2. Laura Parker, "A Whopping 91 Percent of Plastic Isn't Recycled," National Geographic, July 5, 2019.
3. "Make Polluters Pay," U.S. PIRG, last accessed September 10, 2021.
4. "Answers to Common Questions About Glyphosate," Bayer AG, last accessed September 10, 2021.
5. "IARC Monograph on Glyphosate," International Agency for Research on Cancer, last accessed September 10, 2021.
6. "Beyond Plastic," U.S. PIRG, last accessed September 10, 2021.
7. Adam Redling, "Oregon becomes second state to pass packaging EPR law," Waste Today Magazine, August 6, 2021.
8. "Senate votes to revitalize American infrastructure," U.S. PIRG, August 10, 2021.
9. "Bayer takes additional $4.5 billion charge for Roundup suits," Associated Press, July 29, 2021.
Your donation will power our dedicated staff of organizers, policy experts and attorneys who drive all of our campaigns in the public interest, from banning Roundup and moving us beyond plastic, to saving our antibiotics and being your consumer watchdog, to protecting our environment and our democracy. None of our work would be possible without the support of people just like you.
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