Demand bold solutions to our Energy crisis

[pstans]

Dear *****,

The energy bill -- slated for a vote in the House and Senate this week -- is a fundamental insult to Americans. It puts the interests of big oil over the national interest in matters vital to our nation’s security, our economy and our children’s health.

President Bush will celebrate this energy bill as a major victory. Bull! For America, it is a stunning failure.

Please urge your members of Congress to resist the corrupting influence of big oil and lead in the fight for energy independence. Write your member of Congress and tell them to go back to the drawing board and send us bold solutions that address the looming energy crisis posed by our big oil addiction.

http://www.ourfuture.org/new_energy.cfm

America needs a bold new energy strategy, but the President and the Congress have punted. This energy bill is simply business as usual, a smarmy grab bag of corporate subsidies that leaves America more dependent on foreign oil, does nothing for rising gas prices and surrenders leadership in the green markets of the future. What President Bush and the Congressional majority hail as a success is, in fact, a shameful failure of leadership.

With Americans dying in Iraq, oil and gas prices rising, and catastrophic climate change posing a real and present danger, America desperately needs new energy. We need a bold program for energy independence that can create good jobs here by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, while mobilizing American science and technology to free this country of its dependence on foreign oil. This is a national security imperative and an economic opportunity to capture the markets of the future.

Please write your member of Congress and tell them that surrendering to oil and gas interests is not acceptable. Tell them that America can and must do better by embracing the bold Apollo vision for three million good jobs and freedom from foreign oil.

http://www.ourfuture.org/new_energy.cfm

Named after President Kennedy's Apollo initiative that took Americans to the moon in ten years, the Apollo Alliance – a ground-breaking coalition of labor, environmental and urban activists – has detailed elements of a bold plan for energy independence. This initiative would generate over three million jobs here in America through investment in alternative energy and energy efficiency. It would help the US capture the growing green markets of the future -- from super-efficient appliances to the next generation of automobiles. It would help counter global warming and help reduce the spread of asthma and other respiratory diseases that take a harsh toll on American children. And, it would free America of its dependence on Persian Gulf oil.

Instead of embracing the positive Apollo vision, Congress has essentially repackaged the President's failed big oil energy policies of the past, adding a few green measures as decoration. The bill lards subsidies to oil and gas producers, providing them a large return for their political contributions. It puts the interests of contributors and corporate lobbies above those of the nation.

Please write your member of Congress and tell them that we need a real plan for plan for energy independence, not a grab bag of corporate giveaways.

http://www.ourfuture.org/new_energy.cfm

Instead of addressing America’s oil addiction, this big oil energy bill…

* Gives billions in tax incentives to big oil, gas and nuclear conglomerates.
* Eliminates the requirement that utilities provide 10% of their energy from renewable sources.
* Strips a provision to make even a modest reduction in American oil consumption -- 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2015, representing a mere 4% of our projected oil consumption.
* Rolls back oversight on utilities and consumer protections – which would allow companies to structure Enron-like deals and exploit the energy grid.
* Increases drilling incentives for oil and gas companies.
* Rolls back clean water laws to allow drillers to inject harmful chemicals into the water supply without penalty.
* Fails to tackle the fundamental problems of supply and demand now causing ever-increasing prices at the gas pump.

America can and must do better! Let your members of Congress know that it is time for new energy for America – for a concerted drive to free this nation from its dependence on Persian Gulf oil and to make America a leader in what must be the growth markets of the future.

The Apollo Alliance vision for new energy for America is within reach. But first, we must reject big oil’s grip on this administration and Congress, as represented by this oil soaked energy bill. Tell your member that Congress needs to lead. That business as usual is not acceptable. That Americans are looking for those who will lead the way to new energy for America, and will hold accountable those who fold to the special interests on a question vital to our national security, our economy and our health.

http://www.ourfuture.org/new_energy.cfm

Thank you for all that you do.

Sincerely,

Robert L. Borosage, Co-Director, Campaign for America's Future

Robert L. Borosage, Co-Director
Campaign for America's Future and Apollo Alliance Steering Committee Member