Oil isn’t just polluting the Gulf - It’s polluting our politics
New TV Ad from Americans United for Change:
“Oil isn’t just polluting the Gulf - It’s polluting our politics”
Ad Calls on Senate Republicans to Break Their Addiction to Big Oil Money and Pass the American Power Act
***Click Here to Download Broadcast Quality Version***
Washington DC-- Americans United for Change launched a new television ad campaign today featuring unsettling underwater footage from the ongoing, disastrous oil spill – 2.5 million gallons a day - in the Gulf of Mexico with the message: “The oil isn’t just polluting the Gulf - It’s polluting our politics.” Noting the $35 million dollars Republicans have taken from the big oil companiesjust in the last two years, the spot ‘Dirty’ calls on the Grand Oil Party to back the American Power Act, which was introduced last week in the Senate. Republican Senate Minority Leader and obstructionist-in-chief Mitch McConnell has already stated his opposition to the President’s clean energy plan that will decrease our nation’s dependence on oil and create millions of new jobs. See script below for ‘Dirty’ which begins airing today and runs through May 25th on FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC in the nation’s capital.
Tom McMahon, Acting Executive Director, Americans United for Change:“We understand that Senate Republicans have been given 35 million reasons by the big oil companies to stand in the way of clean energy legislation. But there are 2.5 million better reasons to join Democrats in reducing the nation’s dependence on oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico every day due to oil giant BP’s negligence. In the face of an environmental catastrophe of this magnitude, we hope that even the Grand Oil Party will think twice before standing with the polluters and standing in the way of a clean energy future and new clean energy jobs.”
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“Dirty” Ad Back-Up Americans United For Change TV (:30)
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SCRIPT |
FACTS |
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ANNCR: 2.5 million gallons of oil have flowed into the gulf each day
CG: 2.5 million gallons of oil have flowed into the gulf each day
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A BP Executive Predicted That The Oil Spill Could Leak 60,000 Barrels or 2.5 Million Gallons of Oil Per Day. “In a closed-door briefing for members of Congress, a senior BP executive conceded Tuesday that the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico could conceivably spill as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil.” This roughly translates to 2,520,000 gallons of oil a day. [New YorkTimes, 5/13/10; PBS, 5/14/10]
BP Provided “Murky” Information About The Extent Of The Spill And The Initial NOAA Estimate Was “Hastily Produced By Government Scientists.” “The issue of how fast the well is leaking has been murky from the beginning. For several days after the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, the government and BP claimed that the well on the ocean floor was leaking about 1,000 barrels a day.” Following the release of a study that disputed this figure, “[t]he following day, the government — over public objections from BP — raised its estimate to 5,000 barrels a day. A barrel is 42 gallons, so the estimate works out to 210,000 gallons per day. BP later acknowledged to Congress that the worst case, if the leak accelerated, would be 60,000 barrels a day, a flow rate that would dump a plume the size of the Exxon Valdez spill into the gulf every four days.” [New YorkTimes, 5/13/10]
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ANNCR: But oil isn’t just polluting the Gulf - It’s polluting our politics. In the last three and a half years, the oil industry has given over $35 million dollars to Republicans.
CG:Oil isn’t just polluting the Gulf…It’s polluting our politics
In the last three and a half years, the oil industry has given over $35 million to Republicans
David Vitter, Lisa Murkowski, Mitch McConnell
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Since 2007, Federal Republican Candidates Have Accepted At Least $35 Million From Big Oil. During the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, Republican candidates for federal office have accepted at least $35,586,542 from the oil and gas industry. [Center for Responsive Politics, 5/17/10] |
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ANNCR: Tell Mitch McConnell and the Republicans to stop blocking clean energy and start holding the polluters accountable.
Tell them to pass the American Power Act. CG: Tell Mitch McConnell & the Republicans to Stop blocking clean energy and start holding the polluters accountable. Pass the American Power Act Paid for by Americans United for Change. Americansunitedforchange.org |
The American Power Act Will Reduce Carbon Pollution By 80 Percent By 2050. According to the executive summary of the American Power Act, the bill would reduce carbon pollution by 17 percent in 2020 and by over 80 percent in 2050. [Sen. Kerry Press Release, 5/12/10] McConnell Is Committed To Killing Comprehensive Climate And Energy Legislation. In an article about bipartisan negotiations to introduce a climate and energy bill sponsored by Kerry, Graham and Lieberman – the foundation for the American Power Act – Bloomberg report “The measure will need ‘significant bipartisan cooperation’ to pass, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said today in an e-mail. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in an e-mail he will oppose it. ‘Whatever its intentions, this bill is little more than a job-killing national energy tax,’ McConnell said.” [Bloomberg, 5/12/10] |