Protect the Environment,
Not Energy Corporation
Profits, Says UE President
PITTSBURGH
Congress must face up to the seriousness of the nations
energy crisis and that means challenging the energy corporations, not
giving into their environmentally destructive demands, says UE General
President John Hovis.
"The Bush-Cheney scheme to drill for oil in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and to encourage oil and gas drilling in
other sensitive areas of our country, is no solution," says Hovis in a
statement released on the eve of the August 2 vote by the House of
Representatives for HR 2436.
UE backs the Markey-Johnson bill (HR 770), which would remove
the threat of renewed energy drilling in the ANWR by making it a part of the
National Wilderness Preservation System and therefore out of the reach of the
energy corporations.
CHALLENGE
"Ultimately Congress must face up to the reality of our
national energy crisis," Hovis says.
"A good start would be to immediately investigate the
recent wave of profiteering and price-gouging by the oil, gas, and electricity
conglomerates," the UE president suggests. "Congress must also act
to promote a national energy strategy to protect both consumers and the
environment.
"Progress is possible, but only if our elected lawmakers
are willing to confront and challenge the vast and interlocking corporate
powers that now dominate our democracy," Hovis says.
UE News - 08/03/01 - Web
