KALAMAZOO —

The environmental group the Sierra Club launched a television advertisement today criticizing

, saying the Republican congressman from Michigan is failing to ensure that Americans have clean air and water.

The ad campaign is expected to air on cable and broadcast stations this week in Upton’s district, which is Michigan’s 6th in the state’s southwest corner.

Upton, R-St. Joseph, is the new chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The ad alleges that several of Upton’s votes this month would provide tax breaks for oil companies at the expense of the environment.

“I think that any politician that chooses to put corporate polluters over the health and safety of the American people should be held accountable,” said Holly Shulman, press secretary for Sierra Club.

Shulman said Upton’s votes are not in line with the views of his constituents and show a departure from his past votes that showed more “common sense.”

Upton has previously said that he is not convinced that global warming is caused by humans. He has also said that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plan to regulate carbon emission will kill millions of jobs.

“Left unchecked, the proposed regulations would raise the cost of doing business in nearly every imaginable sector of our economy and increase the financial burdens on Michigan’s struggling families,” Upton wrote in a statement provided today to the Kalamazoo Gazette.

In his statement, Upton said he stands by his record of working to protect the environment, and several policies he has helped enact have had a positive impact on it.

In order to ensure an abundance of clean air and water, Shulman said, Americans need an agency to look out for their interests. The EPA is that agency, and Upton is standing it its way, she said.

Melinda Pierce, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club, said with his new role as committee chairman, Upton is leading the charge against further regulations on environmental emissions.

She said the Sierra Club just wants the EPA to be able to do its job.

But Upton said Congress rejected the cap-and-trade bill and that, under the Clean Air Act, the EPA recently claimed authority to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants, even though Congress never granted it such authority.

“I have submitted draft legislation that restores the Clean Air Act to its original intent, keeping families safe and protecting American jobs by preventing EPA from implementing these regulations, which would cost U.S. companies tens of billions of dollars and could force many of them to move operations overseas,” Upton said in the statement to the Gazette.

The Sierra Club ad mirrors a Michigan League of Conservation Voters radio ad that also begins airing today. That ad makes similar claims against both Upton and U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, whose district includes Battle Creek and Jackson.

Contact David Alexander at

or 269-388-8553.