President Obama used his first Oval Office address to the nation
to detail his administration’s response to the disastrous BP oil spill,
and to call on Congress to pass a comprehensive clean energy policy to
help move the country away from oil. Environment New Hampshire’s Federal
Global Warming Program Director Nathan Willcox issued the following
statement in response:
In the face of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history,
President Obama responded with an urgent call to repair the immediate
damage done by the BP oil spill and move our nation away from oil and
other fossil fuels. The disaster in the Gulf demonstrates in
heartbreaking terms that the transition to a clean energy future must
begin immediately.
Environment New Hampshire applauds the President’s pledge to do everything
possible to restore the ecology of the Gulf and the local communities
affected by the oil disaster, to reform the government agencies
responsible for watch-dogging the oil industry, and to ensure that BP
foots the bill for the clean-up effort – in the short and long-term.
As important as it is to determine what went wrong on the Deepwater
Horizon, we know that offshore drilling will never be completely safe.
We therefore urge President Obama to permanently protect areas along
the Atlantic coast, the eastern Gulf and the Arctic oceans that have
been spared from drilling thus far.
Moving forward, the U.S. Senate must answer the President’s call for
a comprehensive bill that moves us away from fossil fuels. Environment New Hampshire urges the President and Congress to work together to pass a
comprehensive energy and climate bill this year that ensures four main
things: First, the Gulf communities and ecosystems must be made whole,
and BP—not American taxpayers —need to pay for the clean-up; second, we
need to adopt a robust set of oil savings policies—especially within
the transportation sector—to drastically decrease the nation’s demand
for oil; third, we need to set strong limits on global warming
pollution that are critical to driving the shift to cleaner energy
sources; and fourth, we need unprecedented support for energy
efficiency and clean energy sources like wind and solar power to make
this clean energy future a reality.
In the face of the disaster in the Gulf, President Obama and
Congress have a historic opportunity to move our country away from oil
and toward a clean energy future. Tonight, President Obama pledged to
realize this future. For the sake of our environment, our economy and
our national security, Environment New Hampshire urges the U.S. Senate to
follow his lead.
