Washington, DC— Young voters are thrilled that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and the Obama Administration are standing up to big polluters to protect our generation’s health and spur job creation in the clean energy economy. This decision shows the Obama Administration’s commitment to stand up to Big Coal and Oil to protect the air we breathe. We hope the Administration will continue to stand up for the health and safety of Americans and the environment in the coming year. 

Throughout 2011, young voters across the country have been working to ensure the EPA can do its job to protect the health of the American public and the environment. Just two months ago, over 30 young grassroots leaders with the Sierra Student Coalition andPower Shift had a roundtable with EPA Administrator Jackson to show their support for Administrator Jackson’s leadership on this ruling and to share the success stories of young leaders across the country moving their campuses and communities beyond coal to clean energy.

In one of the largest political events of the last year, over 10,000 young people came to Washington, DC for Power Shift 2011 to demand President Obama and Congress stand up to big polluters’ attacks on the EPA by empowering the EPA to protect Clean Air and reign in toxic pollution. This decision, as well as the carbon pollution standards we hope the administration will pass in 2012, are important milestones for our country to take on the path to a clean energy economy.

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Energy Action Coalition is a coalition of 50 youth-led environmental and social justice groups working together to build the youth clean energy and climate movement. Working with hundreds of campus and youth groups, dozens of youth networks, and hundreds of thousands of young people, Energy Action Coalition and its partners have united a burgeoning movement behind winning local victories and coordinating on state, regional, and national levels in the United States and Canada.