Senate ‘Spill’ Bill Fails to Address Root Causes of Gulf Oil Tragedy
The bill contains some positive measures, but squanders the opportunity to catalyze an oil-free future.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this afternoon unveiled a draft outline of a pared-down oil spill bill after officially abandoning a broader attempt to address our climate and energy crises last week.
Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica had the following response to the draft summary:
“For a bill that was meant to respond to the consequences of our nation’s crippling dependence on oil, it will not prevent oil disasters like the one currently ravaging the Gulf Coast. This moment demanded aggressive measures to end drilling and propel our country toward an oil-free future.
“The bill’s positive reforms include putting polluters like BP on the hook to pay the full costs of oil spill damage and erecting a wall between revenue-takers and oil industry regulators in the Department of the Interior. While the bill includes investments in solutions like electric vehicles and energy efficient homes, they are crumbs compared to the billions in taxpayer dollars that subsidize Big Oil’s profits and pollution each year.
“Senators in bed with fossil fuel industry lobbyists have also hijacked this bill to promote natural gas, a false solution. Natural gas extraction consumes oil and is poisoning drinking water supplies from Texas to New York.
“The convergence of a favorable majority in Congress and the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history presented a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end our oil addiction. Unfortunately, the Obama administration and Congress didn’t seize that opportunity and future generations will suffer for it.
“In the absence of strong action from Congress, the Obama administration must put a permanent moratorium on drilling and aggressively promote policies to reduce oil consumption across the nation.”
While this legislation does not achieve the sweeping changes that we need in order to end our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels, we can take steps today to help us achieve a clean energy future.
Join FOE’s campaign to end the oil lobby’s influence on Congress, a major cause of the lack of ambition and courage we see in the bill.
If you have already taken action, help spread the word to your friends or join the campaign on Facebook.
Image Credit: Flickr – deepwaterhorizonresponse
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