Dear Sierra
Club Member,
As you
learned a couple of weeks ago, the Sierra Club has officially
endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President. We want to
take this opportunity to tell you why.
Simply
put, it's because we believe Obama shares our concerns,
values and vision for a clean energy future. He agrees with
us that it's not time for half steps; that what America
needs is bold, transformational action that will break the
chokehold Big Oil has on our economy and Washington politics,
provide short-term relief for American families and long-term
solutions for our energy and economy problems.
Highlights
of Obama's Energy strategy include:
- Providing
Relief for families struggling to pay their energy bills.
His plan is to provide families with a $1,000 tax credit
and stimulus checks paid for by taxing the oil companies’
record profits.
- Investing
$150 billion over the next ten years in alternative sources
of energy -- wind and solar power, and advanced biofuels,
in the commercialization of plug-in hybrid cars, and development
a new digital electricity grid. This investment will create
up to 5,000,000 good-paying jobs that cannot be outsourced
and will create the billions in new economic activity
that will America back on the path to prosperity.
- Requiring
25% of U.S. electricity to come from renewable sources
by 2025 and increases energy efficiency in the U.S. 50%
by 2030
- Attacking
global warming. Obama has presented a bold and comprehensive
plan for addressing global warming which includes a "cap
and auction" system that would cut our carbon dioxide
emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
- Rejecting
drilling as the answer to our energy woes. Obama knows
that drilling off of our beaches and destroying our last
special places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
in order to pad Big Oil’s bottom line won’t
do anything to lower gas prices today, tomorrow, or even
a decade from now
To learn
more about Senator Obama's Energy Plan, go to http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy/
Thanks
for everything you do to protect the planet,
Carl Pope
Executive Director
**** from
the current issue of The Sierra Club Insider ********
Why the Sierra Club Supports Barack Obama for President
Back
in June, the Sierra Club endorsed Barack Obama for president,
calling him 
"the
leader who will put America on the path to a clean energy
economy, create and keep millions of jobs, spur innovation
and opportunity, make us a more secure nation, and help
us solve global warming."
Obama's
subsequent selection of Joe Biden as his running mate, John
McCain's selection of Sarah Palin, and the increasingly
vociferous demands from Republicans to "drill, baby,
drill" have only added to that conviction.
Biden
has long championed environmental protection and clean energy
and has a lifetime rating of 83 percent from the League
of Conservation Voters. Palin has close ties to the oil
industry, supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, and is suing to de-list the polar bear as a threatened
species.
Here are
the details
of Obama's plan to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by
2050, make polluters pay for the global warming pollution,
produce electricity from renewable sources, and improve
energy efficiency.
In this
final week, you can help us elect Barack Obama president
of the United States of America. All it takes
a little of your time.
