Hurricanes Katrina and Rita sparked an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy and support for Gulf Coast residents. Unfortunately, some members of Congress are attempting to use the hurricanes as an excuse to push through legislation that would give huge payoffs to cash-rich energy companies, at the expense of the health and safety of Americans. These powerful special interests are trying to capitalize on these catastrophic events to push controversial proposals -- some of which were specifically rejected in the sweeping energy bill enacted this summer.

In the House, the misnamed “Gasoline for America’s Security Act of 2005” would grant enormous subsidies to energy companies, while attempting to remove key public health and environmental protections. Many of these rollbacks have absolutely no relation to the recent hurricanes or to America’s gasoline supplies -- they are nothing more than recycled pieces of “wish-list” legislation that the oil and gas industry have not been able to succeed in passing any other way.

The House will vote on this industry handout bill in just 48 hours. We cannot let opportunistic oil companies use one environmental disaster as the justification for creating another. Please tell your representative to oppose this misleading and harmful bill!

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Sample Letter for Campaign

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Like all Americans, I am deeply saddened by the devastation caused by the recent hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and support efforts to alleviate suffering in the affected regions. However, I believe that Congress's response should not include the gutting of public health and environmental laws in order for cash-rich oil and energy companies to profit even more. I therefore strongly urge you to oppose the so-called "Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005" (H.R 3893), which is scheduled for a vote this week.

Instead of offering real solutions to those of us hit hard by high gas prices, the bill would harm our public health and the environment while doing nothing to curb rising energy costs. First, the bill would gut the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program, allowing more than 20,000 industrial facilities to increase their pollution. This would disproportionately impact minority communities that already suffer from air pollution emitted by nearby refineries.

More than 150 million Americans live in areas where smog levels are high enough to cause serious health problems, but this bill would allow cities with the worst smog problems to miss existing cleanup deadlines for many years. The bill would also set severe limitations on the use of cleaner vehicle fuels and biofuels, which are essential to reducing air pollution and protecting public health.

Gutting the laws that would reduce pollution in hard-hit communities is not the way to help them recover. This bill would exploit the tragedies of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to hand out favors long sought by special interests, and I strongly urge you to oppose it.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
October 05, 2005