Elections offer new hope for a pro-environment agenda in Congress Statement of Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth

Tuesday’s mid-term elections offered a stunning rebuke to the Bush administration’s pro-oil, anti-environment agenda. The change in leadership and the defeat of some of Congress’s most anti-environmental members offers new hope for the millions of Americans who support stronger environmental protections and are eager for a clean energy future. 

The defeat of some of the most anti-environment members of Congress is a real cause for celebration.  At the top of this list is Richard Pombo, who used his perch atop the powerful House Resources Committee to advance an agenda that was out of step with his California district and the rest of the country.  Americans want clean energy solutions to our dependence on oil, but Richard Pombo pushed the same old Washington proposals that benefited Big Oil. His defeat at the hands of Jerry McNerney, the CEO of a wind energy company, speaks volumes about the hunger Americans have for a new direction on energy and the environment.

Victories over the coming months will not come automatically, but thanks to this week’s seismic shift in power they’re finally possible.  At Friends of the Earth we’re already rolling up our sleeves, and are ready to get to work to help deliver the clean energy future that Americans voted for this Tuesday.