SIERRA CLUB ADS
CRITICAL OF MI SENATORS
|
For
Immediate Release:
April 02, 2002
|
Contact:
Dan Farough, Sierra Club (517) 484-2372
or Lana Pollack, MEC (517) 487-9539
|
LANSING,
MI: The Sierra Club is running radio ads this week urging
Senators Levin and Stabenow to support an energy bill that
reduces our dependence on oil and protects special places
like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Sierra Club
expressed disappointment that Senator Levin and Stabenow chose
not to require Detroit to make more technologically advanced
and fuel efficient vehicles among other key energy votes.
The ad
notes that America needs "to loosen the grip oil-producing
nations have on us, to make responsible plans for the future
that employ better technology and American know-how to decrease
our dependence on oil." The ad calls on Levin and Stabenow
to fix the current energy bill, which does nothing to reduce
our dependence on oil, promote renewable energy technology
and could sacrifice special places like the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge.
"The
energy bill is unacceptable in its current form," said
Dan Farough, Political Director of the Michigan Sierra Club.
"As it stands now, the Senate energy bill does nearly
nothing to reduce our consumption of foreign oil, to increase
our energy security, to create jobs with cutting edge technology,
or to safeguard our environment. The Senate bill is looking
more and more like its evil Enron-inspired twin which passed
the House and must be stopped."
The Senate
energy bill began as a promising vehicle for meeting our nation's
energy needs. However, many of the oil-saving measures were
removed. Senators voted against raising corporate average
fuel economy (CAFE) standards, which is the single biggest
step we can take to reduce our dependence on oil and improve
our energy security. Senators also rejected a measure that
would have increased the amount of electricity produced by
clean, renewable sources like wind and solar power, replacing
it with an amendment that does little to promote renewable
energy and counts municipal waste incineration as renewable.
The Sierra
Club, joined by the Michigan Environmental Council, took the
MI Senators to task for their role in blocking fuel efficiency
standards. "Senators Levin and Stabenow are not only
preventing the nation from addressing our dependence on foreign
oil, they are putting the US auto industry at risk by letting
foreign manufacturers jump ahead of us in fuel efficient technology,
just like in the 70s and 80s," said Lana Pollack, President
of the Michigan Environmental Council.
The Sierra
Club and the Michigan Environmental Council are hopeful that
Senator Levin and Stabenow will work to safeguard the Arctic
Wildlife Refuge
and our other natural treasures, reduce America's oil consumption
by one million barrels a day, guarantee that at least 10 percent
of our electricity supplies come from renewable energy resources,
ensure that electricity consumers will not be ripped off by
more Enrons, and reduce rather than increases pollution of
our air, water and land.
"Levin
and Stabenow missed a major chance to move our nation forward,
to use technology and American know-how to make real progress
in reducing our
oil dependence, saving consumers money, and cutting global
warming pollution," said Pollack "Critical amendments
remain and there is still a chance that the Senate will take
the right road. Unless the bill is fixed, it's unacceptable
as energy policy and should be defeated."
