WASHINGTON
- At a press conference this morning, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) were joined by former EPA Administrator Russell E. Train, along with national security and environmental leaders, in calling for the U.S. Senate to reject the Murkowski resolution, which is expected to be voted on by the Senate later today.
According to the speakers, this resolution is a Big Oil Bailout that would weaken efforts to protect America's air and water, would allow dirty industries to create more pollution, and would increase America's dependence on oil.
If it were to pass, the Murkowski resolution would overturn the historic clean car standards issued by EPA and the Department of Transportation in April 2010, with the backing of the auto industry, labor, states, and environmentalists alike. According to the EPA, this would lead America to lose one-fourth of the oil savings - some 455 million barrels of oil - that would have come from these new standards.
The speakers urged the Senate to reject this handout to Big Oil and its allies, and stand up for policies that will move America to a new clean energy economy.
Following are statements from participants at today's event:
"Today, America faces an energy crisis, and the Senate owes the American people solutions - but this resolution is an attempt to bury our heads in the sand and ignore reality," Senator Udall said. "The reality is that this resolution would be a step backward for climate science and clean energy. The American people expect us to do our jobs - especially in light of the continued destruction from the Gulf oil spill - and that means creating a ‘do it all, do it right' energy policy that takes advantage of all of our energy resources, not a resolution that would take us from ‘do it all' to ‘do nothing' over the course of a single vote."
"We all know the high stakes in continuing our dependence on oil. The spill in the Gulf will cause untold economic damage while our reliance on foreign oil makes us more vulnerable. We should be doing much more to encourage the development of red, white and blue clean energy technology that we can make here in America and export to the world," said Senator Merkley. "The Murkowski resolution would set that effort back and make it more difficult for us to protect the air our children breathe. This is a terrible idea and must be defeated."
Russell Train, former EPA administrator, said: "For 40 years, the Clean Air Act has protected the health and welfare of the American people, saving hundreds of thousands of lives while vastly improving the quality of the air we breathe. If passed, this resolution would fundamentally undermine the Clean Air Act, overturning science in favor of political considerations."
Margie Alt, Executive Director, Environment America, said: "The Gulf Coast oil disaster is a heartbreaking reminder that we need to end our dependence on oil. Now is not the time to weaken Clean Air Act protections. Now is not the time to bail out Big Oil. The Senate should defeat this dangerous bill and get to work moving America to clean energy."
Jonathan Murray, Director of Advocacy, Truman National Security Project, said: "America's dependence on oil hurts our economy, finances our enemies, and threatens our security. The U.S. spends over $1 billion a day to feed an addiction that tethers us to dangerous and unstable regimes. Much of that money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations. Now is not the time to sideline a key weapon in the fight against our addiction to oil."
