On the recordJune 10, 2010
We desperately need to reform our country's energy policies. Our reliance on fossil fuels means polluting our air, it results in an enormous transfer of wealth to other countries--$1 billion a day-- and it compromises our national security. We are currently sending $150 billion a year to countries that the State Department deems dangerous and unsafe. There are tremendous costs domestically associated with this reliance on fossil fuels. We saw it in 1989 with the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, and we are seeing it now as the largest environmental disaster in our country's history plays out before our very eyes in the gulf--the loss of life and the tragedy to the environment. The way of life that so many people in the gulf have enjoyed for generations is unfortunately, we think, going to be gone. We pay a very heavy price for our dependence on fossil fuels. Now is the time to work together to get America running on clean energy.
