Talking Point

We can choose a new energy economy, creating millions of jobs, generating clean American energy and freeing us from the tyranny of oil.

Most jobs producing renewable energy are not easily outsourced, helping reverse the recent loss of 3 million manufacturing jobs.

Investing $30 billion a year for clean energy is a fraction of the $237 billion we spent on foreign oil last year and the $500 billion we’ve blown in Iraq to date.

Addressing climate change now will be much cheaper than dealing with the consequences.

Conservatives have subsidized the disease and starved the cure.

Despite enjoying record profits from sky-high gas prices -- ExxonMobil posted the highest annual profit ever for a U.S. company, $40.61 billion, in 2007 -- oil companies get billions in tax breaks and government subsidies.

Yet in 2007, Senate conservatives used a filibuster to block a clean energy bill that would have stripped subsidies from Big Oil and invested in renewable energy.

Working Americans now bear the brunt of a failed energy policy, as catastrophic climate change looms.

Families will spend $2,300 more this year to fill up their cars and $1,700 more for home heating oil than at the beginning of the Bush presidency. We spent $237 billion on imported crude oil last year.

Meanwhile, Arctic ice is melting at a record pace. Wildfires are burning hotter and longer. A record number of Category 5 hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic Ocean this decade. Lake Mead, which supplies water to Phoenix and Las Vegas, is drying up. Even hunting seasons and wildlife habitats are beginning to be adversely impacted.

The British government projects a 10-20% decline in global economic activity—comparable to the Great Depression—if we don’t stop global warming.

It's time for change. It is time for bold alternatives—like the Apollo Alliance program—that send our energy dollars to the Midwest, not the Middle East.

Washington politicians need to overcome their temerity about big investments in energy independence. They should join governors and mayors across the country who are fighting on the front lines to break America's dependence on foreign oil.

We must challenge Washington politicians to champion an ambitious new energy plan.
That plan would:

• generate good jobs,
• capture new markets, and
• unleash American science and technology

all while reducing our reliance on Persian Gulf oil.

Republican failures on energy offer Democrats a chance to frame a clear, compelling agenda that positions them as the party of change.

The corrupt energy policies that got us into this fix are not going to get us out.

Regrettably, every time catastrophe hits, Republican leaders fail to break their bond to Big Oil.

• Profits for BP, Exxon, Shell and Chevron have surged, and Republicans vote for billions in new tax breaks to oil companies.

• Bush and Congressional Republicans said their energy bill would lower gas prices and create jobs. They were wrong -- gas prices have doubled since Bush took office.

• And energy costs and gas prices have reached the second highest level in history.

America's oil addiction has made the country increasingly vulnerable to catastrophe. We're all paying the price.

• Tensions rise in the Middle East. Americans pay more at the pump.
• A hurricane forms in the Gulf of Mexico. Americans pay more at the pump.
• A refinery spills 100,000 gallons. Americans pay more at the pump.