Robert Redford: Kick the Oil Habit

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Dear Melissa,

When President Bush took office in 2001, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $1.47. Today the average price is $2.89 and it’s much more in many places. This surge in gas prices has hit a nerve for many around the country, reminding us of an economy that is increasingly uncertain for the middle-class, a growing addiction to oil that draws us ever closer to dictators and despots, and a fragile global position with a climate that is increasingly out of balance.

It's time to rise to the challenge and Kick the Oil Habit.

Join me and thousands of others by taking action at www.KicktheOilHabit.org

We just launched a campaign to take on Big Oil companies and demand better energy solutions. Please take a moment to visit our site and watch our powerful video that shows how Big Oil and their backers in Washington are profiting while working Americans are paying more.



www.KicktheOilHabit.org

Our first action is to challenge oil companies to double the number of E85 ethanol fuel pumps at their stations within a year and pledge to offer renewable fuel at half of all gas stations within the decade.

Please join our effort and take action now: http://www.KicktheOilHabit.org


Thank you,

Robert Redford on behalf of the Kick the Oil Habit campaign.


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KicktheOilHabit.org is a campaign of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which is working to transform progressive ideas into policy through rapid response communications, legislative action, grassroots organizing and advocacy, and partnerships with other progressive leaders throughout the country and the world.

(This photo was also in the email. :) )

Our Alternative

There is a better way. America can no longer rely on oil as the lifeblood of our economy. It is time to demand new homegrown alternatives that we can adopt today. Clean renewable energy will cut pollution and end our dependence on imported fuel that hamstrings our growth and national security. Energy efficiency will save consumers money now and make our economy more productive for the future.

It is time for a real forward looking energy plan, a plan that breaks our addiction to oil once and for all by investing in alternatives, deploying new technology like bio-fuels in the tanks of our cars, and wind and solar power for generating our electricity. It is time for leadership to end our collision course with climate change, and to stop the scramble to control dwindling supplies of oil at ever increasing cost.



A serious plan that makes a difference in the lives and security of all Americans will:

*Give consumers choices in the fuels they use, by doubling the number of E85 ethanol pumps available at gas stations within the year, and setting a goal of installing E85 pumps in half of all gas stations within the decade.

*Put more flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) that can run on high blends of ethanol on the road, by requiring that new cars and government fleets be able to run on ethanol, and by ensuring that the owners of the over 5 million flexible fuel cars already on the road today are notified and informed of the nearest pump.

*Set a binding national goal for oil savings, so that all Americans work together to conserve our natural resources, getting more value from the energy we use, and reducing the $300,000 that America spends on imported oil every minute.

*Help ease the burden of high energy prices today, especially on working families hardest hit by high prices, by protecting against price gouging, and expanding short term relief for consumers through the earned income tax credit or other refundable credits that increase economic relief.

*Set standards to ensure that a portion of our electricity comes from clean renewable sources like wind. solar and efficiency, and establish a Clean Energy Investment Authority, Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, and State grant programs to ensure that clean energy projects are financed and built, making our electrical grid more resilient and secure, and diversifying our electricity supply.

For more information on clean energy alternatives check out the following sources:

*In his State of the Union Address, the President faced the fact that America is addicted to oil. The Center for American Progress poses 10 tough questions for kicking the oil habit.

*Even as American consumers are feeling the pain at the pump, oil company profits are breaking all records and CEO pay packages are through the roof, read an analysis.

*For information on transforming our rural economy and the balance of trade with farm based energy, read Resources for Global Growth from the Center for American Progress.

*Learn more about the coming carbohydrate economy in a special issue of the American Prospect called After Oil, with articles by a range of scholars and political leaders.

*Read the chapter on Securing Our Energy Future in the Center for American Progress' book of Progressive Priorities.

*See the recommendations outlined by the International Climate Change Task Force

*Some of the strongest national leadership on renewable fuels is coming from state leaders. Learn more in the recent Energy edition of our State Progress newsletter.