The announcement today that the Obama administration will expand offshore drilling in the United States is a blow for clean energy and a step in the wrong direction. Offshore drilling threatens hundreds of miles of coastline, pours more carbon into our atmosphere, and hardly puts a dent in America's oil addiction.
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One of our favorite blogs, Itsgettinghotinhere.org, has a great post up with some quotes from students who live in the states that will be affected by this announcement:
“I was born near Florida’s Emerald Gulf Coast.” says Graham Penniman of University of Central Florida. “The memories that I have on those beaches brings me so much joy, that every night I fall asleep thinking about the moons reflection across the water. To imagine my beach any other way destroys my heart.”
Amanda Glaze, University of West Florida: “I understand that they want to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but why not reduce our dependence on oil all together. Our tax dollars are being used to drill for something that will just disappear. It is a triple negative; we use oil to run the machines that drill for that oil that we then use to fuel our lives. What kind of generation will we be viewed as if we destroy our oceans just because we want a year or two of independence from other countries? We need to stop worrying about only ourselves and think about our children and grandchildren, how is this going to effect them, what are they going to do when all our oil is gone? Why are we investing in something that can just disappear when we can put our money towards something that can last a lifetime.”
Amanda's exactly right. Instead of investing in offshore drilling, the US should be investing in clean energy solutions all across the country and around the world. That's why this year our theme at 350.org is "Get to Work." In thousands of cities and towns around the world we're hoping to show just where this clean energy investment is needed. Each time we weatherize a house or paint a new bike lane, it's a way of saying to our politicians: "Look, if we can get up here on the roof of our school and put up a new solar panel, surely you can stand up on the floor of the Senate or Parliament and pass some strong climate legislation!"
Bribing oil companies with offshore drilling isn't any way to pass climate legislation, however. Real action takes leadership. That's what we'll be showing in our communities this year. We'd like to see a little more out of Washington, as well.