May 14th, 2010:

The Progress Report wrote:

BP Oil Platform Collapses in Gulf of Mexico

Beyond Petroleum

From: The Progress Report [progress@americanprogressaction.org]
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:40 AM
To: tom@tomchambless.com
Subject: Beyond Petroleum

FIGHTING THE OIL ADDICTION: The BP blowout is changing the politics of oil in this
 country, with polls finding that “Americans have turned far less supportive of increased drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coastline.” Although Louisiana’s senators, Mary Landrieu (D) and David Vitter (R) continue to defend BP and our nation’s addiction to oil, some Florida politicians who supported the “Drill Baby Drill” efforts have strongly pulled back, while Mississippi and Alabama politicians have gotten queasy about their former support for drilling. Obama has halted his drive to promote offshore drilling as safe energy, and today sent Congress a legislative package to deal with the immediate crisis.

Could this be where it all begins? President Obama said in Chicago after his triumphant victory that this is the time where it all begins, where generations from now will look back and point to this time as where we started to heal. Could this be a new beginning for American politics – one that swells the ranks of those who think that we must wean ourselves from oil. It could be. It could happen with the right circumstances. All that needs to happen now is for a voice to come forth with strength and enough forcefulness to keep the momentum alive.

Today, Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) are unveiling the American Power Act to tackle this generational challenge. The American Power Act includes provisions that limit Obama’s offshore drilling plans and grant a veto over drilling to any state that could be affected by a spill. The legislation invests billions in green transportation initiatives, public transit, and natural gas trucks and buses to reduce demand for oil. It also critically caps fossil fuel pollution, which would finally address the ongoing climate disasters like those that devastated New Orleans and Nashville while weaning our nation off its addiction to oil.

Could these men be that voice? Can the Democratic Party candidate for president in 2004, John Kerry, and the Democratic Party vice-presidential candidate in 2000, Joe Lieberman, have the gravitas to not only rally the base but gain enough momentum with all Americans to build a strong national sentiment toward finally ridding ourselves of oil? Could the introduction of this bill, The American Power Act, one that could really mean something toward a clean future for our grand kids, and one that is introduced at a time of decreased interest in off-shore drilling, be the greatest timing ever?

The disaster in slow motion that is happening now off the coast of New Orleans may be the shock that we need as a nation to move the country in the right direction – toward capping CO2 emissions and toward renewable power. It has never been a question of “if” we move toward renewable power and end our addiction to coal and oil, but a question of “when”. That when could be and must be, now.

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