Tell Microsoft: Stop Supporting Polluter Propaganda!

By now, we're used to polluters pulling out all the stops to attack our clean air and water safeguards. They pump out smokescreens of misinformation and hide behind manufactured talking points, all in the hopes of generating confusion while they rake in record profits. But the latest attacks on the EPA's new protections against smog aren't coming from just the polluters. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is spending millions of dollars to spread fear and uncertainty about the new smog protections.

They're spending so much money, we even recommended they rebrand themselves with the new logo we designed for them.

NAM is made up of companies, big and small, from all across the country. Some are polluters with a vested interest in stopping clean-air protections... and some are companies who should know better.

That's why the Sierra Club is sending an open letter to Microsoft, one of America's most influential corporations. Microsoft sits on NAM's board of directors -- and should know better than to support NAM's fear-mongering.

Send your own letter to Microsoft now! Tell them that NAM's pro-pollution propaganda is hurting our families and communities, and that Microsoft must stop supporting NAM immediately.

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Stop supporting NAM's pro-pollution agenda

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With the National Association of Manufacturers blowing smoke about clean-air protections, why is Microsoft still supporting NAM's agenda? Along with all 2.4 million Sierra Club members and supporters, I'm concerned about your company's relationship with, and leadership within, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). We believe this involvement deserves the urgent attention of your Board and management, as you have senior executives on NAM's Board of Directors. Right now, dangerous smog pollution isn't just making the views in so many American communities unsightly, it's making too many of our nation's most vulnerable people sick. According to the American Lung Association (ALA), inhaling smog pollution is like getting a sunburn on your lungs and often results in immediate breathing trouble. Short-term exposure can trigger asthma attacks and long term exposure is linked to chronic respiratory diseases like asthma, reproductive and developmental harm, and even premature death. Smog pollution robs hundreds of thousands of Americans with asthma and other respiratory ailments of quality of life. It sends thousands of children to emergency rooms each year and costs Americans' billions in health care costs, lost productivity, and premature deaths. It's especially bad for communities of color, as 7 in 10 African-Americans live in areas with unsafe air and African-American children are three times more likely to be admitted to the hospital for asthma than other children. But, there is a way to alleviate some of this pain. Numerous medical associations and public health organizations have endorsed 60 ppb as the standard for smog pollution that is consistent with protecting public health. If the EPA follows their advice, the new standard will go a long way to clean up the air. According to the EPA, a 60 ppb standard would prevent roughly 1.8 million asthma attacks, 1.9 million missed school days, 7,900 premature deaths annually. In addition to its health benefits, a 60 ppb standard would provide the public with the most accurate measurement of air safety that medical science has to offer. Today, the public largely shoulders the expense of the smog pollution caused by the fossil fuel industry, and a tighter standard would hold these industries accountable for their pollution. But that same industry is now fighting against a stronger standard, and is led by the National Association of Manufacturers -- an organization for which top executives from your company sit in leadership positions. That is why we are bringing this matter to your attention at this time, as we urge you to terminate your relationship with this controversial organization that is directly standing in the way of safeguards that would protect the health of millions of Americans.