True Majority on Energy Policy
Here is a worthy cause (IMO):
Energy Bills Are Down to the Wire
There’s a More Secure, Cheaper, Environmentally Sensitive Way
While working alongside Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense
Council, Sierra Club, MoveOn, Working Assets, and others, TrueMajority members have succeeded in preventing passage of the Bush Administration’s energy bill. Rather than see sky-high gas prices and yet another American war in the Middle East as the perfect occasion to enact sustainable energy policies, those who support the oil and coal industries in the White House and in Congress are using current events to launch another push for the same old stuff: relax environmental laws, drill the wilderness, and burn more fuel.Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way. Our country currently
lags behind the rest of the world in energy conservation and renewable supplies; just look at the effects on America’s health, the environment, and national security.There are three things TrueMajority members can do:
1) Tell Congress to reject any new energy legislation that doesn’t get serious
about renewable supplies and energy conservation. (They’ll try to sneak these
bills through over the coming months, so now is a good time to send a clear
message.)2) Write a letter to the editor to educate your neighbors and to further pressure your members of Congress.
3) Help our friends at the Apollo Alliance promote their detailed plan for
sustainable and secure energy, and to run the TV ad that lays bare the Bush energy policies.TELL CONGRESS. Tell your senators and representative to vote against any bill
that does more to help keep us hooked on fossil fuels than it does to help us
break the habit (text below). Just click this link:
http://action.truemajority.com/index.asp?action=10176&ms=enr4&ref=0Then please forward this message to anyone else you know who believes our
future should include renewable energy.WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR. Letters to the editor are another powerful way to influence your Congressmembers. This feature uses state-of-the-
art technology to make it really easy for you to submit a letter to the
editor.Click here to give it a try:
http://action.truemajority.org/l2e/index.asp?cp=23PROMOTE THE APPOLLO ALLIANCE. Check out the folks who are working for a
positive alternative, and if you like what you read, kick in a few bucks to
help them or their latest “Out of Gas” ad campaign. Remember, the power of the online community is that ten dollars from 10,000 people adds up to a
good- sized budget to confront the special interests.
www.apolloalliance.orgBen Cohen
To learn more:
For details of the bills currently before Congress, and the policies at stake,
check out http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/bush_plan/.To check out an interview I did with the online environmental magazine Grist
Magazine, go to http://www.gristmagazine.com/interactivist/cohen061404.aspHere is the letter we will send to your senators and representative:
Dear Senator/Representative:
Given the current spike in gasoline prices, and the war in Iraq, Congress is
moving swiftly to vote on a series of energy bills. Unfortunately, none of
those bills address the core problem. As a nation, we consume too much fossil
fuel and aren’t investing nearly enough in conserving - or finding - renewable
alternatives and bringing them to market. I urge you to oppose the latest round of energy bills making their way to the floor. Simply put, please vote against any bill that does more to help keep us hooked on fossil fuels than it does to help us break the habit. We will gain a brighter future by investing in the research and deployment of renewable sources of energy, not by lowering environmental regulations and raising tax subsidies for fossil fuels.Sincerely,
(We’ll put your name and address here.)