THE (MINDLESS) PUSH FOR MORE OIL DRILLING - AND RESPONSES
"...House Republicans on Tuesday launched a drive to open up more coastal areas to oil drilling, including a stretch off Southern California."
GOP wants drilling off Virginia's coast
"The bills, co-sponsored by Reps. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, and Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, would end a moratorium put in place after last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
One bill would require the Department of the Interior to hold lease sales for Virginia within one year of the bill becoming law."
Republicans Vitter, Bishop Plan Legislation to Boost Oil Output
"The bill would expand offshore drilling, change the permitting process and revise the Clean Air Act, ..."
Capps Blasts Proposed Offshore Drilling Legislation
"Here we go again. House Republicans are making a promise to American families they simply can't deliver. They're telling the public that new offshore drilling will bring them relief from $4 per gallon gasoline. Here's the harsh reality: We cannot drill our way out of this problem. We don't have the oil. And we're never going to have it."
Environment America Comments to House Natural Resources Committee
"In an effort to craft a modern day fairy tale, the Natural Resources Committee continues to call in witnesses and to produce bills that claim the best way to create new energy and lower gas prices is to drill more and drill anywhere. This is pure mythology—in the real world, the only way to overcome the consequences of our oil dependence is to get off oil.
The only people who stand to benefit from more drilling are the oil companies and energy market speculators who have worked to cause this problem to begin with. American families pay their whopping gas bill at the pump while Big Oil companies bank billions in profits each quarter and then claim they need billions of dollars more in tax breaks to keep drilling in the U.S. Ending these subsidies to Big Oil is a real deficit reduction opportunity waiting to be grabbed by this Congress.
Instead of helping Big Oil and the speculators, the Natural Resources Committee should be focused on getting our country off oil as quickly as possible. We're improving car mileage already and we can do better–establishing 60 mpg standards for cars and trucks through 2025 could cut our oil dependence by nearly one third.
We are building solar and wind electricity plants and must invest further in these technologies. Offshore wind installations in the Atlantic Ocean could generate more electricity than is produced by all states on the Atlantic seaboard but this Committee isn't talking about that. We can tap into American ingenuity to expand mass transit, increase building energy efficiency, and invest in any number of new, clean technologies, yet Big Oil's allies in congress only talk about cutting these programs.
Our future is in clean re
newable forms of energy more efficient cars, energy efficient buildings and robust public transit development, not subsidies to Big Oil to expand drilling."
"True energy independence starts at home and we are encouraged by the President's commitment to moving our nation beyond its dangerous addiction to oil.
As the President said, with soaring oil prices, Middle East unrest, national security concerns and disasters like the BP Gulf disaster, we cannot afford to hit the snooze button again on our energy independence.
Today the Sierra Club joined the Center for American Progress and the League of Conservation Voters in releasing a "Cleaner Cars, Less Foreign Oil" plan, calling for President Obama and Congress to set firm targets for ending Big Oil's stranglehold on our economy.
To save Americans money at the pump, we propose the following four-part plan:
- Cut foreign oil use by 5 percent annually, and in half by 2022;
- Build 21st century cars that get 60 miles per gallon by 2025 and invest in smart transportation choices like high speed rail;
- End tax loopholes and government handouts for Big Oil, and invest one cent per dollar of Big Oil profit into ultra-clean vehicle research and development;
- Stop speculators from driving up oil prices.
We join the President in his call for American ingenuity and innovation and we share his vision for a safer, healthier and more prosperous nation. However, the Sierra Club is firmly opposed to the misconception that coal or nuclear power can ever be clean.
Instead of perpetuating our dependence on dirty energy, we urge the President and Congress to take meaningful action to move America into a clean energy economy."
Defenders of Wildlife Response to President Obama's Speech on Energy Security
"Thankfully President Obama is confronting our addiction to oil. While we don't agree with everything the President said today, particularly his short-term plan to ramp up new domestic drilling and suggestions that this could include frontier areas in Alaska, he has a long-term plan for diversifying energy sources, improving energy efficiency and transitioning to a cleaner, more sustainable future. This stands in stark contrast to the members of Congress who are solely focused on helping their Big Oil buddies continue to make obscene profits while most Americans struggle to pay rapidly rising gas prices. The Obama administration is taking some right and necessary steps to reduce our long-term dependence on foreign oil. But a key element that was missing from today's speech was a reaffirmed commitment to accelerating the development of environmentally-responsible renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal today. In the long term, these are the only truly secure and reliable sources of energy we have.
Responsible, sustainable and secure energy development can only be achieved if we're smart from the start. With the right policies in place, we can improve transportation, reduce prices at the pump, and still power our homes and cities. We can do so without sacrificing clean air, drinking water, wildlife, and the health of our planet and its people. We need to not only reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but also transition away from dirty, polluting fuels altogether. It is the only responsible thing to do."
