The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Alan Minsky, PDA Executive Director, Alan@PDAmerica.org
Mike Hersh, PDA Communications Director Mike@PDAmerica.org

Progressive Democrats of America Calls On President Biden To Reject Willow Oil Project

Alan Minsky, PDA Executive Director, said, “Progressive Democrats of America is calling upon President Biden to reject the Willow Oil Project in a letter to the President stating the following:

“We write to you during your final week of deliberation on whether to approve the Willow Oil Project. You have always maintained that we should believe in climate science.”

“At your recent State of the Union address, in an unscripted remark, you said that the world needs to be off fossil fuels in ten years.”

“This revealed your understanding that fossil fuels are not compatible with a planet supportive of life, and that we must transition to clean renewable energy at an emergency pace to secure a livable future.”

“You also understand that:

  • Atmospheric levels of the main greenhouse gasses reached record highs in 2022.
  • The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Working Group 1 Summary for policymakers (Table SPM.1), and the UN Environment Program indicate that there is no longer a credible path to warming below 1.5°C in the short term.
  • The Willow Oil Project is estimated to produce “278 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the project’s 30-year lifetime, about the annual equivalent emissions of 66 new coal-fired power plants.”
  • Approving Willow will undermine your commitments on climate and environmental justice.”

“All remaining fossil fuels must remain in the ground. Let’s not pretend otherwise.

“We appeal to what is most honest, wise, and most courageous in you. To the elder in you. To the grandfather in you. Do not gamble with our lives and with the lives of generations yet unborn. Reject the Willow Oil Project.”

Progressive Democrats of America is a Grassroots Political Action Committee launched in 2004 to advance progressive policies and help elect progressive candidates. Our goal is to help create governing progressive majorities in the House and Senate. For more information, please see: PDAmerica.org.

With the future in mind,

On behalf of the more than one million supporters of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) across the country:

  • Alan Minsky, Executive Director of PDA, Los Angeles, California
  • Conor Boylan, Chair of the PDA Board, Cleveland, Ohio
  • Donna Smith, Chair of the PDA Advisory Board, Denver, Colorado
  • Rev. Rodney Sadler, Vice Chair of the PDA Advisory Board, Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Russell Greene, PDA Senior Strategic Advisor on Climate, Encino, California
  • Brad Bulger, PDA State Coordinator Alabama
  • John Sonin, PDA State Coordinator Alaska
  • Trudi Rust, PDA State Coordinator Arkansas
  • Dan O’Neal, PDA State Coordinator Arizona
  • Dr. Bill Honigman, PDA State Coordinator California
  • Susan Gilbert, PDA State Coordinator Colorado
  • David Stevenson, PDA State Coordinator Connecticut
  • Joan Stallard, PDACo-Coordinator District of Columbia
  • Mohamed Rabie, PDACo-Coordinator District of Columbia
  • Constance Peterson, PDA State Coordinator Delaware
  • Mike Fox, PDA State Coordinator Florida
  • Sen. Vincent Fort, PDA State Coordinator Georgia
  • Bart Dame, PDA State Coordinator Hawaii
  • Cory Alexander, PDA State Coordinator Idaho
  • Pamella Gronemeyer, PDA State Coordinator Illinois
  • Ken Riter, PDA State Coordinator Iowa
  • Scott Houldieson, PDA State Coordinator Indiana
  • James Orwig, PDA State Coordinator Kansas
  • Beth Jones, PDA State Coordinator Louisiana
  • Mike Hersh, PDA State Coordinator Maryland
  • Russell Freeman, PDA State Coordinator Massachusetts
  • Bryan Buchan, PDA State Co-Coordinator Michigan
  • Jo Ann Dollard, PDA State Co-Coordinator Michigan
  • Dave Paulson, PDA StateCo-Coordinator Minnesota
  • Edwin Worrell, PDA StateCo-Coordinator Minnesota
  • Rahim Talley, PDA State Coordinator Mississippi
  • Robert Cesario PDA State Coordinator Missouri
  • Eleanor A Parker, PDA State Coordinator Montana
  • Tom Tilden, PDA State Coordinator Nebraska
  • Judith Whitmer, PDA State Coordinator Nevada
  • Catherine Hunt, PDA State Coordinator New Jersey
  • Laura and Paul Stokes, PDA StateCo-Coordinators New Mexico
  • Jane Gruen, PDA interim State Coordinator New York
  • Joel Segal, PDA State Coordinator North Carolina
  • Mayo Makinde, PDA State Coordinator Ohio
  • Dave Alba, PDA State Coordinator Oregon
  • Randy Shannon, PDA State Coordinator Pennsylvania
  • LaurenNiedel, PDA State Coordinator Rhode Island
  • Sydney Bennett, PDA State Coordinator Tennessee
  • Lou McCreary, PDA State Coordinator Texas
  • Mitchell Vice, PDA State Coordinator Utah
  • Sheila Healey, PDA State Coordinator Vermont
  • Stephen Spitz, PDA State Coordinator Virginia
  • Don Smith, PDA State Coordinator Washington
  • Sally Roberts, PDA State Coordinator West Virginia
  • Jim Carpenter, PDA State Coordinator Wisconsin

Progressive Democrats of America was founded in 2004 to transform the Democratic Party and U.S. politics by working inside and outside of the party by working to elect empowered progressives and by building the progressive movement in solidarity with with peace, justice, civil rights, environmental, and other reform efforts. For more information about PDA, please see PDAmerica.org.