Friends,
Like my fellow citizens, I have been deeply saddened, angered and immensely frustrated by the tragedy in the Gulf caused by the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and the disastrous BP oil spill. Our hearts go out to those most directly affected on the Gulf Coast. This tragedy is of great concern for all Americans, and particularly those living in coastal communities everywhere.
Despite continuing efforts to reduce the flow and capture more of the oil, thousands of barrels are still spilling into the Gulf each day.
This is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster - a human, environmental and economic catastrophe that should not have happened. To my mind, we shouldn't be drilling at depths or in places where we lack the ability to quickly resolve any problem and stop any leak.
Right now, the largest cleanup effort in the nation's history is underway while the work continues to reduce the flow and stop the leak. BP has agreed to pay all the costs for these efforts, and for the people, property and resources impacted by the spill. We need to make sure that BP is held to that promise.
At the same time, we need to find out exactly how and why this happened. The Justice Department has launched an investigation into the oil rig explosion, and an independent commission has been named to determine what steps need to be taken to ensure that this never happens again. As we've witnessed during the recent financial crisis, excessive risk-taking for short-term gains without effective oversight can cause severe economic harm. The same holds true for shortcutting safety issues in our energy sector.
America's economic, national, and environmental security hinge on our ability to lead the way in developing and using clean energy. The country that leads this transition will lead the world economy. The research, development, and manufacturing associated with making that future will create millions of jobs and make our existing jobs more secure.
By using cleaner, safer fuels, we will prevent horrible disasters like the one we are now experiencing.
And eliminating our dependence on foreign oil will mean we no longer send billions of dollars to dangerous countries in the Middle East. We must get ourselves to a point where we can operate the country on American-made energy; we are not safe if another country holds the power to shut down our cars, trains, lights, and computers.
All of this points to an ever more urgent need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and move ahead with sustainable alternatives toward a safe, clean energy future. The time to create that future is now.
Thank you,
Jim
P.S. I hope you'll help me continue working to protect the environment and improve our energy security.
Click here to make a contribution to my campaign to ensure we don't hand lawmaking powers back to the party of "Drill, Baby Drill."
Paid for by Jim Himes for Congress
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