More Than 50 Groups Urge President Obama to Show “Unwavering Leadership” on Clean Energy and Climate Legislation
Washington (April 29, 2010) – More than 50 national organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, sent a letter to President Obama today urging him to continue to demonstrate his leadership for the enactment of clean energy and climate legislation this year. As the Senate continues to get clean energy and climate legislation back on track, the President’s leadership on this issue is critical, according to experts at NRDC.
Following is the text of the letter:
April 29, 2010
Dear Mr. President:
Representing 54 national organizations and millions of Americans, we write to urge you to continue to demonstrate your leadership in support of strong clean energy and climate change legislation this year. Just yesterday, you reiterated your call for comprehensive energy and climate legislation. Now, more than ever, we need your help to make that vision a reality.
This must be the year that the United States passes comprehensive climate and energy legislation into law in order to create jobs, strengthen our national security, and reduce carbon pollution. As a nation, we cannot afford to delay action any longer; we urge you to work closely with Senate leaders to ensure the full Senate takes up a comprehensive energy and climate bill in June.
Special interests have fought energy reform for decades. They have kept America dependent on foreign oil and protected corporations that pollute the air our children breathe and the water they drink. It is long past time to end our reliance on old technology and dirty energy sources and put America back in control of its energy future. Every day that goes by without a comprehensive clean energy and climate policy helps our enemies, hurts our economy, and puts our security at risk.
Without a bipartisan, comprehensive national clean energy and climate policy, America’s businesses are hamstrung and cannot make the investments that will create millions of jobs in the new clean energy sector. Without a comprehensive policy, we cannot achieve the reductions in carbon pollution that are necessary to protect the planet. Without a comprehensive policy, we cannot end the practice of exporting $1 billion a day for foreign oil and will remain at the whim of hostile regimes.
The United States now stands at a critical moment in history at which the decisions made today will have a lasting impact on generations to come. Our leaders face a choice between moving America forward to a new clean energy economy or preserving the failed energy policies of the past. Mr. President, we collectively have a profound responsibility to future generations of Americans to enhance our economic, environmental, and national security. Now is the time to pass a strong comprehensive clean energy and climate bill. America needs your unwavering leadership at this moment to ensure that we achieve this goal yet this year.
Gillian Caldwell, Campaign Director
1 Sky
Maggie Fox, President and CEO
Alliance for Climate Protection Action Fund
Pamela S. Horwitz, Executive Director
American Corn Growers
Rebecca Wodder, President
American Rivers
Eric Sapp, Executive Director
American Values Network
Chris Van Atten, Executive Director
American Businesses for Clean Energy
Jerome Ringo, Board of Directors
Apollo Alliance
Dave Foster, Executive Director
Blue Green Alliance
John D. Podesta, President and CEO
Center for American Progress Action Fund
Daniel Magraw, President
Center for International Environmental Law
Mindy S. Lubber, President
Ceres
Mike Tidwell, Director
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Jeff Anderson, Executive Director
Clean Economy Network
John DeCock, President
Clean Water Action
Gregg Small, Executive Director
Climate Solutions
Representative Jeremy Kalin, Chair
Coalition of Legislators for Clean Energy Action Now (CLEAN)
Sybil Sanchez, Director
Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL)
Peter Seligmann, CEO and Chairman of the Board
Conservation International
John Kassel, President
Conservation Law Foundation
Rodger Schlickeisen, President & CEO
Defenders of Wildlife
Trip Van Noppen, President
Earthjustice
Margie Alt, Executive Director
Environment America
Daniel L. Sosland, Executive Director
ENE (Environment Northeast)
Fred Krupp, President
Environmental Defense Fund
Howard A. Learner, President
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Michael Noble, Executive Director
Fresh Energy
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO
Green For All
Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham, President
Interfaith Power and Light
Newton B. Jones, International President
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
David Hoskins, Executive Director
Izaak Walton League of America
Gene Karpinski, President
League of Conservation Voters
Mary G. Wilson, President
League of Women Voters of the United States
Sr. Leanne M. Jablonski FMI PhD, Director
Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC)
Frank Gill, President
National Audubon Society
James Ennis, Executive Director
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
Thomas C. Kiernan, President
National Parks Conservation Association
Larry Schweiger, President and CEO
National Wildlife Federation
Frances Beinecke, President
Natural Resources Defense Council
Andrew Sharpless, CEO
Oceana Inc.
Jonathan Murray, Campaign Manager
Operation Free
Joshua Reichert, Managing Director
Pew Environment Group
Keith Laughlin, President
Rails to Trails
Rob Sisson, President
Republicans for Environmental Protection
Peter Illyn, Executive Director
Restoring Eden
Heather Smith, Executive Director
Rock the Vote
Anthony D. Cortese, ScD, President
Second Nature, Inc.
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director
The Shalom Center
Michael Brune, Executive Director
Sierra Club
Sujatha Jahagirdar, Political Director
Student PIRGs
Will Rogers, President
The Trust for Public Land
Kevin Knobloch, President
Union of Concerned Scientists
Rev. Peter Morales, President
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Peter Granato, Vice Chairman
VoteVets.org
Carter Roberts, President and CEO
World Wildlife Fund