FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 30, 2011

Contact: Maggie Kao, 202-675-2384

Sierra Club Response to President Obama's Speech on Energy Security 

Statement by Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club: 

Washington, DC - 

“True energy independence starts at home and we are encouraged by the President’s commitment to moving our nation beyond its dangerous addiction to oil.  

“As the President said, with soaring oil prices, Middle East unrest, national security concerns and disasters like the BP Gulf disaster, we cannot afford to hit the snooze button again on our energy independence.

“Today the Sierra Club joined the Center for American Progress and the League of Conservation Voters in releasing a “Cleaner Cars, Less Foreign Oil” plan, calling for President Obama and Congress to set firm targets for ending Big Oil’s stranglehold on our economy.

To save Americans money at the pump, we propose the following four-part plan:

• Cut foreign oil use by 5 percent annually, and in half by 2022;
• Build 21^st century cars that get 60 miles per gallon by 2025 and invest in smart transportation choices like high speed rail;
• End tax loopholes and government handouts for Big Oil, and invest one cent per dollar of Big Oil profit into ultra-clean vehicle research and development;
• Stop speculators from driving up oil prices.

“We join the President in his call for American ingenuity and innovation and we share his vision for a safer, healthier and more prosperous nation.  However, the Sierra Club is firmly opposed to the misconception that coal or nuclear power can ever be clean.

“Instead of perpetuating our dependence on dirty energy, we urge the President and Congress to take meaningful action to move America into a clean energy economy.”

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