The images of the Gulf oil spill spreading into the Loop Current, and the foreboding warnings of oil hitting Key West and East Coast beaches should make one thing clear:
This isn’t just about the Gulf Coast. It is about all of our beaches, all of our water, and our economy.
When it comes to oil, it is never just about someplace else. It always comes back to hit the entire country — which is why we must seize this moment, when everyone can see right there on their TV and computer screens, exactly how our dependence on oil is a real threat to our entire nation.
Now is the time to demand action — we must pass a clean energy policy that makes sure we end this drill-spill-bill cycle by ending our dependence on oil.
Sign my petition to end our addiction to oil and pass comprehensive energy reform today!
We are working on legislation to protect the jobs and coastal commercial enterprises threatened by the spill. I am also co-sponsoring legislation to make sure taxpayers don’t have to pay one penny for the clean up — from Louisiana to Florida and now possibly up the East Coast. This bill will lift the liability cap that oil companies face from a mere $75 million to $10 billion.
In addition, I’ve asked the Obama Administration, joined by 78 of my congressional colleagues, to postpone any new drilling in the beautiful and delicate Arctic Ocean until we get answers about what happened with the Deepwater Horizon — and how a similar disaster can be prevented in the future.
To further advance the goal of preventing future spills, I will also be introducing legislation to require oil companies to use the best available automatic shut-off technology, as is already required in Europe.
We simply cannot afford to wait to end our dependence on oil.
Support comprehensive clean energy legislation that will end our addiction to oil. Sign my petition today!
This Gulf spill is a vivid, sad, and tragic reminder of the true costs associated with our addiction to oil.
Daily, we incur hidden costs associated with our addiction. We subsidize the security of commercial shipping lanes in the Middle East. We allow unabated emissions of greenhouse gasses without cost. We see our sea levels rising, oceans acidifying, and droughts worsening.
I am working in Congress to help the people affected by the Gulf spill and to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
But make no mistake, nothing we do to contain the costs of oil will be enough. Our only real path forward is to leave oil behind. It is time to embrace our clean energy future, to quit cleaning up oil spills, and start implementing clean energy solutions.
Click here to help me pass comprehensive energy reform now.
Thank you for your support on this crucial issue.
Jay Inslee
Member of Congress