©
1999
- 2011 League of Women Voters of Alabama and
League of
Women Voters of the
United States
Action Alert!
Please contact Sen. Shelby and Sen. Sessions!
Ask them to encourage other Senators to support legislation
that would fund full restoration of the Gulf of Mexico.
Joyce
Lanning [, LWVAL Environment/Natural Resources Director] and I have been working
with an informal coalition of the Gulf States leagues (Florida,
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas) and with Betsy Lawson of the LWVUS
Advocacy Committee regarding Senate Bill 1400, known as the Restore
Act. Our goal is that this legislation and its House companion
would dedicate the Clean Water Act fines from the Gulf oil spill
towards a full restoration of the Gulf of Mexico. The
impacted communities and ecosystems of the Gulf could potentially see
as much as $20 billion toward the restoration. The wording of the
bill would result in the money’s being directed directly toward to
restoration, and not into the general fund. Both Sen. Shelby and
Sen. Sessions have signed on to support this legislation!! I
wrote a letter thanking them for that support, and asked them to
encourage their non-Gulf State counterparts to support the bill.
The dream is that this would be passed before Congress adjourns for
Christmas. We will have to see about that. ....
At this point, it is time for an Action Alert for our members and others we know who would be willing to contact our Senators (and, as it becomes appropriate, our Congressional representatives) to do so now. ...
At this point, it is time for an Action Alert for our members and others we know who would be willing to contact our Senators (and, as it becomes appropriate, our Congressional representatives) to do so now. ...
Please take immediate action as directed below. This is a memo shared by the LWV of Louisianna. We thank the LWVLA for their fantastic job of coordinating this project and keeping an eye on what is transpiring in Washington.
| Action for LWV members in Gulf States: Congress has finally introduced legislation to help restore the Gulf by directing fines and penalties paid by BP and other responsible parties to the Gulf for ecosystem restoration. We need your help to make sure it passes. It has been well over a year since BP's oil drilling disaster began, and ecosystems and communities continue to suffer. The Gulf has long borne the burden of our nation's oil dependency, and it's absolutely appropriate for the fines from the nation's largest deepwater drilling disaster to be put to work to restore the ecosystem that has been imperiled by the oil industry. Unless Congress takes action, the money from the federal oil spill fines will simply be deposited into the Treasury rather going back to the Gulf for restoration. Today, we are asking you to make a call to thank your Senator for standing up for the Gulf and to urge them to continue to work to pass legislation that would invest billions of dollars of Clean Water Act penalties in ecosystem and economic restoration across the Gulf. How can you help? Dial the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and say you want to speak you’re your Senator. (Or, find their direct phone number here.) When you reach the senator's office, say, "Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I'm a resident of [CITY, STATE ]." Then say, •
"I am calling to thank you for your support of legislation that
dedicates the Clean Water Act fines from the Gulf oil spill towards a
full restoration of the Gulf of Mexico."
• “This is an important piece of legislation to jumpstart the needed restoration of the Gulf, but our window of opportunity is quickly closing.” • “I urge you to work with your colleagues to quickly pass this bill and direct BP's Clean Water Act fines to restoring the Gulf.” |
Thank you for taking action!
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please
contact Jean Johnson at jjohnson@lwval.org
or call 205 871-8194.