NRDC cheered President Obama’s announcement yesterday that he is extending the moratorium on offshore drilling and blocking lease sales off the coasts of Virginia, Florida and Alaska. NRDC's president Frances Beinecke called these "forceful steps" that will help protect America’s marine life and coastal communities in the immediate aftermath of the BP oil spill disaster. She also urged the President to look beyond the current catastrophe to tackle the root cause of the tragedy in the Gulf, noting:
We can blame BP for the disaster, and we should. We can blame lack of adequate government oversight for the disaster, and we should. But in the end, we also must place the blame where it originated: America’s addiction to oil...Americans feel sickened by watching the Gulf of Mexico get destroyed. They want to see the disaster clean up and to create a future where this kind of tradeoff is no longer necessary. President Obama can guide the way.
Without a doubt, the ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is a painful reminder that the nation's energy system is broken. In response, long-time NRDC trustee Robert Redford has created a powerful new public service announcement calling on the Obama administration to help get America off oil and jumpstart a clean energy future.
The only way to guarantee that we can avoid future disasters like the one in the gulf is to minimize our reliance on oil. Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation would reduce demand for oil, promote innovative new technologies and create an incentive to get the oil we do need from existing onshore wells. Instead of sending billions of taxpayer dollars overseas to hostile governments, our leaders should be investing that money here at home in American technology. We need President Obama to lead America to a clean energy future by working with the Senate to develop and pass strong comprehensive energy and climate legislation.
Join Robert Redford in calling on President Obama to help jumpstart a clean energy revolution. Watch the PSA, and then send a message urging President Obama to lead America to a clean energy future by working with the Senate to develop and pass strong legislation that cuts our dependence on oil, puts a limit on global warming pollution and ensures another oil spill disaster doesn't happen again.
As Redford says in the video, "America needs safe, clean, renewable energy -- not more oil spills."