"I'm in limbo, I don't know whether my hometown is going to exist in 20 years."
--- Dustin White, resident of James Creek, W. Va., speaking about mountaintop removal coal mining.
In this issue:
1) Take Action: Help Pass Important Wilderness Bills
2) Take Action: Support Strong Vehicle Efficiency Standards
3) Politics: Paid For By Big Oil
4) Beyond Oil: Gulf Oil Disaster Testimony
1) Take Action: Help Pass Important Wilderness Bills
The House and the Senate have prepared a long list of popular and important land protection measures this Congress, including legislation that would establish Wilderness Areas, National Monuments, and Wild and Scenic Rivers. These bills represent many years of on-the-ground work of conservationists, local elected officials, and Congress. The list of pending public lands legislation is bipartisan and locally supported.
Time is running out for the 111th Congress to act on this legislative backlog, but we need to make passing these important wilderness and public lands bills a priority.
Urge your Senators to pass these bills and help protect America's wild legacy for future generations!
2) Take Action: Support Strong Vehicle Efficiency Standards
Our changing climate, the hundreds of billions of dollars sent overseas to pay for imported oil, and the devastated shores of the Gulf and the Kalamazoo River demand that we have a plan to break our oil dependence. By setting strong vehicle standards that ensure our cars average at least 60 mpg in 2025, President Obama can put us on the path to ending our dependence on oil.
Ask the President to set the strongest possible standards for cars and trucks!
3) Politics: Paid For By Big Oil
In response to last week's Republican "Pledge to America" release -- which includes a pledge to continue bowing to Big Oil and fighting clean energy - the Sierra Club has launched a new web tool, www.PaidForByBigOil.org, to track and publicize outrageous statements made by politicians about Big Oil and other polluters, and connecting those statements to campaign contributions they receive.
Check out the Paid For By Big Oil website and follow it on Twitter.
4) Beyond Oil: Gulf Oil Disaster Testimony
Today is the second day of a two day hearing by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.
Sierra Club Apprentice Jenny Kordick was there to testify about the Sierra Club's involvement in and wishes for the Gulf Coast cleanup and restoration –- not to mention the need to move beyond oil toward a clean energy economy.
Read and watch Jenny's testimony here.