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The energy bill conference convened
in early September to hash out the differences between House and Senate versions
of the bill. The Sierra Club opposes both versions because they move us backward
and put our communities at risk. Democrats on the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee say they are being excluded from the talks, and their input
is not
being sought. “To this point, they have not sought involvement of Democrats
at all,” said Rep. Henry Waxman of California, a member of the conference
committee.
Using the recent blackout as political cover, President Bush and congressional
Republicans are claiming that their destructive energy bill is necessary to prevent
future blackouts. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bush bill ignores
solutions at hand that would decrease our dependence on polluting, unsafe, and
outdated energy systems. It attempts to open sensitive places like the Arctic
Refuge to destructive oil and gas development, but conversely, does not save
a drop of oil and does nothing to significantly increase our use of clean, renewable
energy. It overlooks almost totally the importance of increasing efficiency,
and fails to adequately prevent against further power outages.
Take Action!
Call your senators and urge them not to support this regressive legislation.
Tell them that President Bush’s energy plan:
• Ignores energy-efficient solutions in favor of increased oil, gas,
coal, and nuclear production.
• Attempts to open sensitive places like the Arctic Refuge and other special
places in the West to destructive oil and gas development.
• Allows automakers to sell more gas guzzlers by failing to raise fuel
economy standards.
• Disregards the property rights of farmers and ranchers and provides
incentives for destructive coal-bed methane drilling.
Encourage your senators to support only a much-scaled-back bill (with
only the electricity reliability measures intact), eliminate the
worst provisions
from the current bill, or to spark a filibuster of the bill when
it returns to the Senate.
Call your senator at the Capitol Switchboard:(202) 224-3121.
To find out who your senator is, check out zoomer.sierraclub.org.
Read more information on the energy bill here. www.sierraclub.org/
energy/bush_bill.asp
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