Schwarzenegger Joins Sierra Club

[Kolesar]

Schwarzenegger Joins Sierra Club
to Oppose Senate Offshore Drilling Bill

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday that he will "do everything I can to protect our coast" and will fight against the offshore oil bill the Senate is poised to vote on this week, as well as any weakening of the 25-year moratorium on coastal drilling. In a teleconference hosted by Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, the governor echoed the Club's concern that if the Senate bill passes, it would be merged with a House bill sponsored by Representative Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) that could "lead to the weakening of the moratorium that has protected our California coasts for 25 years."

The governor touted alternative fuels, new technologies, hydrogen fueling stations, hybrid and electric cars as better solutions. "For anyone to think that this will bring gas prices down is making a big mistake."

AUDIO: Hear an excerpt from Schwarzenegger's remarks. (MP3)

Republican Schwarzenegger and the Sierra Club have not always seen eye to eye - but they are joining forces to protect our nation's coasts from becoming oil fields.

The Senate bill would open up a huge chunk of Florida's Gulf Coast to oil and drilling, and give away more than a third of the billions of dollars in oil leasing revenues over the next 50 years to four coastal states - Florida, Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana - even though the drilling would take place in federal waters.

Pope said he was delighted Governor Schwarzenegger was joining the Sierra Club and others to oppose this bill and expose it as ruse to open up every inch of the nation's coastline to potential drilling.

The governor had to return to a health summit he was chairing in Los Angeles, but Pope and others fielded reporters' questions. One reporter said that the secretary of the Interior and oil industry executives told him the Senate bill is not a precursor to drill off the coast of California - "You're basically saying they're lying?"

Pope hesitated, then said, "Yes, I am. If they want to write a bill that protects California, they know how."

While states would still have the power to block drilling, Pope said the Pombo bill would give the oil industry an advantage in every state - each state legislature would have to pass two bill every five years, one to stop oil drilling, another to stop gas drilling.

Other speakers in the teleconference included Dan Jacobson, from Environment California, who emphasized that energy efficiency and renewable energy are the cheapest and cleanest ways to generate energy, Mark Ferrulo of Florida PIRG, who expressed concerns about how the bill would be dangerous for Florida, and the Sierra Club's Melinda Pierce, who talked about how Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) are leading the opposition.

Other speakers in the teleconference included Dan Jacobson, from Environment California, who emphasized energy efficiency and renewable energy are the cheapest and cleanest ways to generate energy, and the Sierra Club's Melinda Pierce, who talked about how Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) were leading the opposition.

The first vote on the bill is scheduled for Wednesday.

http://www.sierraclub.org/energy/schwarzenegger/

[Botany]

1. Please

somebody is getting nervous

[Donnachaidh]

2. is duhr governator getting nervous?

will he be trading in his Hummer for a hybrid next?

A photo-op with Smokey the Bear very far off?

[Kermitt Gribble]

3. He's definately a hipocrite...

...with his Hummers, but it's good to see a public figure trying to get this issue out in the open.

[Webster Green]

4. The day after he gets re-elected, he'll be pushing for drilling...

The guy is as phony as a four-dollar bill. He'll say anything to get re-elected.

If he sold his Hummer, his steroid-addled dick would shrivel to nothing.

[Maat]

5. And, let's not forget .... as Greg Palast noted in "Armed Madhouse,"

Arnie stepped up to the plate after Kenny-Boy and the Energy Mafia decided that Gray Davis had to go. Issa, another staunch defender of the common person, paid for the recall. Arnie allegedly was elected, and he settled for pennies on the dollar with the power companies.

Translation: Arnie sold out Californians - I hope that they remember that in November, no matter what moves he makes.