FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2009
CONTACT: Josh Dorner, Sierra Club, 202.675.2384
Josh McNeil, League of Conservation Voters, 202.454.4573
In His Own Words: New TV Spot Highlights Obama's Call for Clean Energy Bill
Spot from Sierra Club and LCV Adds to Unprecedented Grassroots Campaign
Washington, D.C.—Today, the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club launched a new television ad amplifying President Obama’s call for Congress to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The ad, "Pass It," takes video from the President’s Tuesday press conference, in which he made a compelling case for clean energy. Watch "Pass It" at http://lcv.org/passit.
"This week, the House of Representatives is moving ahead on historic legislation that will transform the way we produce and use energy in America," President Obama says in the ad. "We all know why this is so important. The nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century's global economy. That's what this legislation seeks to achieve. It's a bill that will open the door to a better future for this nation and that's why I urge members of Congress to come together and pass it."
"Congress now has an historic opportunity to answer President Obama's call for a comprehensive clean energy jobs plan," Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope said. "It's essential that Congress strengthen and pass this legislation without delay, so we can get America running on the clean energy that will slash our dependence on oil, renew our economy, and protect our planet."
"The President’s voice is the most powerful, but he is only one of the millions of Americans who want to move to a 21st Century sources of clean, American energy," LCV President Gene Karpinski said. "In 30 years in Washington, the coalition that has formed in support of this bill is one of the most powerful I’ve ever seen because the vote in question is the most critical we’ve ever faced."
Last week, that diverse coalition of groups representing more than 10 million Americans launched a major television, print, and online advertising campaign urging Congress to pass and strengthen the American Clean Energy & Security Act, which is likely to come up for a vote on the House floor this week. Groups taking part in the effort include Sierra Club, VoteVets.org, the League of Conservation Voters, America's Building Trades Unions, Democracia Ahora, the Blue Green Alliance, the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund, and the Service Employees International Union. These groups have collectively spent approximately $5 million in recent weeks in support of a strong clean energy jobs plan.
This ad is a final element of the unprecedented grassroots campaign to strengthen and pass the bill through the House of Representatives. The groups will work to move a strong bill through the Senate and on to the president's desk as soon as possible.
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