As American families head to the beach to enjoy the last few weeks of summer vacation, it's costing a lot more to fill up the car to get there. The price of gas is hovering around $3 a gallon, as evidenced by ExxonMobil's $10.4
billion in profits in the second quarter of 2006 alone. Sadly, the response in Washington, D.C., has been to open up America's long-protected coasts to oil drilling.
This summer both the House and Senate passed offshore drilling bills that, to varying degrees, would threaten all of America's coasts. The fight is far from over -- this fall the two bodies will meet to try to hammer out compromise
legislation. But any new offshore drilling will only add to the billions in profits already being made by Big Oil, do nothing to lower gas prices for American families or energy costs for American businesses, keep our nation dangerously dependent on oil, and would jeopardize
strong tourism and fishing economies and our favorite vacation destinations.
This is an election year so, so every inch of coastline will be under assault in the coming weeks as some politicians try to take credit for doing something about high gas prices while taking no real steps to solve our energy
problems. Congress has refused to pass legislation that would make cars go farther on a gallon of gas or encourage the use of renewable energy -- but they are more than willing to cripple coastal protections and fulfill Big Oil's wish list.
Sign our petition to urge Congress to support the current moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling, to seek out smart energy solutions, and to do everything in their power to protect America's beaches for families to enjoy for
summers to come.