This petition was authored by the 8-12 year-old students in the Save the World! Environmental Club in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. They are angry and frightened by the Gulf oil spill and can't see the logic of our government continuing to endorse and incentivize oil drilling in our oceans.
We're very upset about this oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico because we are the next generation (and the people who care about the next generation) and it will affect our future in many ways. The oil is polluting the ocean and air. The oil spill is also killing innocent animals who live in the ocean and birds who eat the ocean animals' whole food chains can collapse because of this tragedy.
You can't avoid this situation or leave it behind for us - or at least you shouldn't. You have the power to fix this situation; we can only ask for your help.
We need you to stop the part of the American Power Act that encourages and rewards offshore oil drilling. You have to stop offshore oil drilling instead! Make a law that states that oil drilling in the ocean is illegal. If you won't do that, at least do as much as you can to limit oil drilling and to support and reward alternative energy sources. There are other ways to power things than oil, like algae, wind power, solar power, wave power, and hydroelectricity.
It seems like all a lot of people think about is wealth. We know oil brings in lots of money, but, if there's no clean, healthy Earth, there can be no economy and no money. We need to take care of our Earth, our home, because this oil spill is so large. If you create a law encouraging oil drilling, there will be more oil spills, maybe even larger than this one.
This is our future and we don't want to risk it because of somebody else's mistakes. Jobs and money are important, but some other, more important, things we just can't replace. We love our oceans and want to save them, and so should you. Please think hard about this issue and make the right decision for the Earth and for us.
