FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2012
CONTACT:
Leslie Anderson Maloy, 703-276-3256, lmaloy@hastingsgroup.com
Jamie Nolan, 240-396-2022, jamie@chesapeakeclimate.org
Chesapeake Climate Action Network Joins Fight to Stop Energy Lobbyists from Killing America’s Clean Energy Agenda
Push Reflects Views of 83 Percent of Americans That a “New-Grassroots Driven” Effort is Needed
Takoma Park, MD — Fed up with the undue influence of the energy companies, utilities, lobbyists and other interests that are making it impossible for Washington to move forward decisively in achieving America’s clean energy future, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) is joining 35 other citizen organizations with more than 1.1 million combined members are joining forces to advance a nine-point “American Clean Energy Agenda” and to push for a serious renewable energy agenda no matter who is the next President or which party controls Congress.
Download the American Clean Energy Agenda here.
As crafted by CCAN and the other 35 groups, the new American Clean Energy Agenda calls for a number of bold steps, including: phasing out nuclear power, natural gas, coal and industrial biomass in favor of efficient use of renewable, non-polluting resources; opposition to a “clean energy standard” that includes coal, nuclear, oil, gas and unsustainable biomass; retooling federal “loan guarantees” to make smarter investments in renewable energy; greater emphasis on renewable energy and energy efficiency programs; and avoiding a future in which Americans suffer the consequences of mountaintop mining for coal and fracking of shale gas that is then exported for use in other nations.
Mike Tidwell, director of CCAN, said: “Sometimes, David has to take on Goliath when the stakes are high enough. America’s clean energy future is one of those fights that is worth waging, even in the face of enormously well financed and powerful lobbyists that do the bidding of the energy companies trying to kill America’s clean energy future. We look forward to working with other organizations in our region and across the United States to put the health of people and the protection of the environment ahead of the mindless pursuit of more energy at any cost.”
Organized by the nonprofit Civil Society Institute (CSI) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the emergence of the new network of citizen-run organizations reflects a deep dissatisfaction among Americans about the iron grip maintained by the energy industry and its lobbyists in promoting the non-solution of an “all of the above” approach to energy that would preserve the worst options and dilute the focus on real solutions.
The other 35 organizations joining together to support the agenda are: Appalachian Citizens Law Center; Beyond Nuclear, Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy; Christians for the Mountains; Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana; Citizens’ Greener Evanston; Civil Society Institute; Clean Air Council; Coal River Mountain Watch; Community Environmental Defense Council; Dakota Resource Council; Don’t Waste Michigan; Environmental Advocates of New York; Environmental Working Group; GRACE Communications Foundation; Healthy Planet; Kentucky Coalition; Long Island Progressive Coalition; Northern Plains Resource Council; Nuclear Information and Resource Service; Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition; Oregon Rural Action; Otsego 2000; Partnership for Policy Integrity; Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Sustainable and Healthy Energy; Powder River Basin Resource Council; Renewable Energy Long Island; Responsible Drilling Alliance; Shut Down Indian Point Now; Southern Alliance for Clean Energy; Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment; VT Citizens Action Network; West Michigan Jobs Group; Western Colorado Congress; Western Organization of Resource Councils; and Women’s Energy Matters.
ABOUT THE GROUPS
With 90,000 members in the Chesapeake Bay region, The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) is the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Our mission is to build and mobilize a powerful grassroots movement in this unique region that surrounds our nation’s capital to call for state, national and international policies that will put us on a path to climate stability. Learn more at www.chesapeakeclimate.org.
Based in Newton, MA, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org) is a think tank that serves as a catalyst for change by creating problem-solving interactions among people, and between communities, government and business that can help to improve society. Since 2003, CSI has conducted more than 25 major national and state-level surveys and reports on energy and auto issues, including vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, consumer demand for hybrids/other highly-fuel efficient vehicles, global warming and renewable energy.
EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. www.ewg.org.
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