> Sierrans:
>
> FYI. I thought you would be interested in Sierrašs statement below on the
> Energy Bill passed by the House last week.
>
> Lyle
>
___________________________________________________
Lyle R. Krewson
Sierra Club Conservation Organizer
6403 Aurora Avenue #3
Des Moines, IA 50322-2862
515/276-8947
515/238-7113 - cel
[log in to unmask]
___________________________________________________
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
> CONTACT:
>
>
> Delay Energy Policies Ignore Common-Sense Solutions
> Statement of Lyle R. Krewson, Sierra Club Conservation
> Organizer
>
>
> Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an outdated, last-century
> energy bill that threatens the health of our families and environment. Why is
> it that everyone except Congress and the administration has figured out that
> there are better solutions out there that can create millions of jobs, protect
> our wild places, and make America safer and more secure? The week of Earth
> Day would be an excellent occasion for Congress and the President to let go of
> the past and take a look at the present, existing technologies that will solve
> our energy problems.
>
> The President and leaders in Congress have said time after time that they want
> a balanced energy policy that lowers energy prices, creates jobs, and cuts
> America's oil dependence. Sadly, the energy bill passed by the House is not
> that plan. Even the Bush administration's own Department of Energy has said
> that last year's nearly identical energy bill would do nothing to lower gas
> prices or lower America's imports of foreign oil.
>
> The message must be clear to President Bush and Congressional Leaders: America
> will not forget that when decisive action on energy was critical, they chose
> to enrich their friends rather than pursue the best interests of American
> families. Instead of seizing this opportunity to put American on a Clean
> Energy path, the House Leadership turned away a slew of bipartisan amendments
> that would have allowed members to vote to put stronger energy efficiency and
> renewable energy provisions into the bill, addressed energy-based global
> warming, and reduced the billions in giveaways to some of the most profitable
> companies in the world. Instead, the House Rules Committee shielded its
> members from having to vote on key issues that would address energy supply and
> price issues on behalf of American families.
>
> The Bush-Delay plan is a vast wish-list for the Exxon-Mobiles of the world,
> masquerading as a genuine effort to address our national energy quagmire. It
> opens up our coasts and special places, like the Arctic National Wildlife
> Refuge, to oil development; lets big business polluters off the hook for
> cleaning up the messes they make; and funnels billions of dollars in subsidies
> to outdated dirty industries like coal, oil and nuclear power. In the House
> tax title alone, there are $7 spent on dirty, conventional energy sources for
> every dollar spent on clean energy. That is anything but balanced. At a time
> when energy companies are making record profits -- Exxon-Mobil, for example
> made a record $134 billion in profits (up 218%) last year on high oil prices
> -- why is Congress funneling billions of taxpayer dollars to these same
> industries? The energy bill would also weaken our Clean Air and Clean Water
> Acts, and would even end MTBE (a gasoline additive found to pollute drinking
> water) manufacturers responsibility for cleanup contaminated water supplies,
> burdening local communities with a $30 billion cleanup cost.
>
> It's time to re-energize America with a smarter, safer, cleaner, and cheaper
> energy policy. We can light and heat our homes with safer, cleaner wind or
> solar power. We have the technology to make all cars go 40 miles per gallon
> within ten years, saving more oil than the U.S. currently imports from the
> Persian Gulf or could ever take from the National Wildlife Refuge, combined.
> We can improve the energy efficiency of our homes, businesses and appliances -
> putting money in our wallets and keeping the environment clean. We can
> protect our children from the air pollution that spews from cars and power
> plants. We can protect our coasts and the wildlands left to us for
> safekeeping. All we need now is leaders who will put people ahead of
> corporations and act now to create a legacy that we will be proud to leave our
> children.
>
> # # #
>
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