Statement of
Environment America Executive Director Margie
Alt
“Today’s news of a record $11.68 billion in
second-quarter earnings for ExxonMobil demonstrates that big oil companies are
just as aggressive at drilling into Americans’ wallets as they are at drilling
on our gorgeous beaches and pristine wilderness
areas.
Our addiction to fossil fuels is hurting average
Americans while bringing record profits to the oil industry. Instead of taking
steps to free us from our dependence on fossil fuels, President Bush is trying
to give Exxon and his other cronies in the oil and gas industry a parting gift
before he leaves office. The President’s focus on more drilling rewards the very
companies which have created our energy problems, locking in profits for Exxon,
not solutions for Americans.
If the President were interested in reducing our
dependence on foreign oil he would fully implement existing fuel economy laws
that would save us three times as much oil as we could get from protected areas
off our coast and start investing in renewable and efficient energy options. The
Bush Administration’s own Energy Information Administration has concluded that
drilling in currently protected offshore areas would have an “insignificant”
impact on prices.
Despite President Bush’s stubborn insistence in
continuing on a dirty energy path the states are taking important steps to break
our dependence on oil and put us on the path to a new energy future and green
economy. Just this week, Governors in Washington, Oregon, and California
strongly rejected new drilling off their coasts and instead made meaningful
commitments to use more renewable energy, more efficient, cleaner cars, and
improve public transit. On the east coast, Governors in South Carolina, North
Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, and Maine also joined the opposition to new
drilling. The legislatures in Virginia and Georgia recently rejected bids by the
oil and gas industry to open their coastlines to new
drilling.
All told, 26 states have passed renewable energy
standards -- doing their part to shift from dirty to clean energy sources, 14
states are hoping to get more efficient and cleaner advanced technology cars on
the road, and more than a dozen states have taken meaningful action on appliance
and building standards that will save energy and money. We need the federal
government to follow the states’ leads and move us towards a new energy
future.
We need to break ourselves of our dangerous dependence
on dirty energy in order to free ourselves from the oil companies. In the near
term we can save oil by fully implementing fuel economy standards and providing
incentives for vehicles that consume little or no gasoline. Fortunately, these
alternatives already exist. We can use clean, renewable electricity such as wind
and solar to help move us off of fossil fuels. We can promote plug-in hybrid
vehicles that run off electricity to reduce our oil needs by 55 percent, nearly
enough to eliminate our use of foreign oil. To make this a reality we need
Congress and the Administration to invest in clean energy solutions that will
reduce energy costs and curb global warming
pollution.”
###
Environment America
– a federation of state environment groups – is the new home of U.S. PIRG’s
environmental work.
