Washington – Seven in ten Americans say clean energy legislation must be fast-tracked in the wake of the catastrophic Gulf oil spill, and two-thirds want all new offshore drilling delayed pending the outcome of a full and independent investigation into the disaster and the implementation of new safeguards to protect against such debacles in the future, a new NRDC poll shows. The survey queried 803 registered voters nationwide May 4-6.
Following is a statement by NRDC Director of Programs, Wesley Warren, in Washington:
“This catastrophic oil spill has changed the politics of clean energy legislation. Americans want change and they want it now.”
“Seven in ten say it’s time to fast-track clean energy legislation that begins to break our dangerous addiction to oil by increasing our use of sustainable and renewable power and fuels.”
“Two-thirds insist we must delay new offshore oil drilling until we learn the lessons of this disaster and put new safeguards into place to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”
“It’s no surprise to me that Americans watching this ghastly disaster unfold are seeing it as a wake-up call for action we urgently need to take. Now is the time for Washington to give America the change in direction it deserves.”
More details about this Poll can be accessed at Wesley Warren’s blog: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/wwarren/the_catastrophic_gulf_oil_spil.html
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.3 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.
Press Release dated May 7, 2010
