FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2008
Contact: Josh Dorner, 202.675.2384
Senate Energy Plan Offers Consumers Real Relief
Today’s Vote to Offer Senators Choice Between Big Oil or Consumers
Washington, D.C.—The Senate is expected to vote today on whether to begin taking up the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 (S. 3044). The Sierra Club has strongly endorsed this legislation. Debbie Sease, Sierra Club National Campaign Director, joined Senate leaders, including Senators Durbin and Dorgan, at a press event this morning to urge immediate passage of the legislation.
A full summary of the legislation can be found HERE.
Remarks of Debbie Sease, Sierra Club National Campaign Director
“The Sierra Club was thrilled with this legislation when it was introduced. With gas prices topping $4 a gallon, the need to pass it has only become more urgent. This is a sensible plan that promises consumers real relief and will help put us on the path toward a clean energy future by ending the oil industry’s chokehold on our economy.
“This bill will make sure Big Oil is paying its fair share on its record profits; end taxpayer-funded giveaways to the oil industry; crack down on speculators; stand up to OPEC; and invest billions in the clean energy technologies we need to bring skyrocketing energy costs under control, fight global warming, and create hundreds of thousands of new, good-paying green jobs.
“The same reckless minority that used procedural tricks last week to prevent the Senate from debating the first serious measure to fight global warming will almost certainly do everything in its power to block this legislation. It is unconscionable that any Senator would choose to protect the oil industry at a time when the economy is suffering under crippling energy prices and Big Oil has hardworking Americans over a barrel.
“Unfortunately, President Bush and his allies in Congress have nothing more to offer than roadblocks and the same recycled rhetoric we’ve heard for years: drill, drill, drill. If we’re truly addicted to oil, as President Bush himself has admitted, the answer is not to simply seek a bigger fix by drilling off of our beaches and in our disappearing special places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
“The failed policies of yesterday don’t offer the solutions we need to address today’s energy and economic crises. It’s time to embrace the clean energy solutions promoted by this legislation. They will put America back to work, put our economy back on the path to prosperity, help end our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels, and fight global warming. It’s time for wind farms, not windfalls.”
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