The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America’s innovation and seize control of our own destiny…

The one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is somehow too big and too difficult to meet.

-President Obama addressing the nation from the Oval Office

Just last week we achieved a major victory by rejecting Senator Murkowski’s “Dirty Air Act”, but already we are at another pivotal moment in the fight for our clean energy future.

Senate leadership will soon decide whether to move forward on a comprehensive climate and energy bill or take a weaker “energy only” approach.

Tell them we don’t need a band-aid. We need a climate bill with real solutions to end our addiction to fossil fuels.

Last night, President Obama used his first speech from the Oval Office to show the strong leadership needed for a bold shift to a clean energy economy.

We must demand this same leadership from the Senate.

The President was right that “what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny -– our determination to fight for the America we want for our children.”

Right now, our destiny is shaped by our dirty energy addiction. Tell the Senate it’s time to take back control.

Facing a climate crisis that will shape our future, young people have driven an unprecedented grassroots campaign for clean energy solutions.

Yesterday, we got a big boost from the top.

Speaking at Carnegie Mellon, President Obama declared: “The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean energy future.”

More importantly, the President matched his words with a promise for action.

Many of you signed a letter to President Obama last month, calling for clean energy leadership. Today, he responded with a strong commitment to fight for comprehensive climate legislation. Locking eyes with students in the crowd he told them:

I want you to know, the votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months. I will continue to make the case for a clean energy future wherever and whenever I can. I will work with anyone to get this done — and we will get it done. The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century.

President Obama concluded with a familiar message: “It’s our job as a nation to advocate on behalf of the America that we hope for – to make decisions that will benefit the next generation.”

It’s our generation, and it’s our job too. We are leading the fight, the President is with us, the truth is behind us, and the senators can either get in line or find themselves on the wrong side of history.

Send the Senate the message that we will not be held hostage to special interests and petty politics. It’s time for them to fully embrace our clean energy future.

President Obama will speak at Carnegie Mellon University today, focusing on the economy, the oil spill, and our fight for a clean energy future.

From his prepared remarks:

I will make the case for a clean energy future wherever I can, and I will work with anyone from either party to get this done. But we will get this done. The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century. We will not move back. America will move forward.

Watch live at 1:35pm EST:

President Obama called on Americans to take their own steps toward energy efficiency and a cleaner environment, as we come up on the 40th Earth Day.

“We’ve rejected the notion that we have to choose between creating jobs and a healthy environment, because we know that the economy of the 21st century will be built on infrastructure powered by clean energy,” he said.

Watch:

Check out the White House Earth Day site for more. Then declare your energy independence.

If there was ever a time to make your voices heard, today is it.

At 11 am this morning, standing at Andrews Air Force Base with the intention of telling the military to be more energy efficient, President Barack Obama will make a proposal that seems completely counter to that idea.

Expanded offshore drilling.

Image from the New York Times

The Obama administration is proposing drilling off the previously-untapped Atlantic coast, from Delaware to Central Florida, in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the north coast of Alaska.

According to the New York Times, the proposal would:

…would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.

Under the plan the waters north of New Jersey would remain untouched, as would the entire Pacific coast.

More than 130 million acres of ocean north of Alaska would be opened to drilling after extensive studies are completed.

Obama makes this announcement today during remarks themed, “energy security,” claiming that increased domestic drilling will help cut the United States’ dependence on foreign oil. It looks very much like an attempt to please oil companies during the upcoming negotiations on climate legislation, after the richest companies in the history of the world felt left out of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES).

One thing this announcement is for sure to do is spark strong opposition from many sides.

Drilling [in the Gulf of Mexico] has been strongly opposed by officials from both political parties in Alabama and Florida who fear damage to coastlines, fisheries, popular beaches and wildlife. Interior Department officials said no wells would be allowed within 125 miles of the Florida and Alabama coasts, making them invisible from shore.

Youth are already speaking out, planning a protest at a Newt Gingrich event in Florida (on the way to Costa Rica, right?), where he will be pushing his, “Drill Here Drill Now Pay Less” message.

Youth, the millennial generation so inspired by Obama to vote in record numbers, have the most to lose from the expansion of drilling. Even some coastal governors and senators will be angry about the announcement because of the small amount of oil and huge environmental risks. If white-haired governors and senators are worried, what about young people who are thinking about protecting this coastline for us and our children, long after the tiny amounts of energy have been extracted?

This proposal is not part of an actual climate bill, though it does appear to be an attempt to bring Big Oil on board, as well as some reluctant conservative senators. Youth voices, and all voices, should speak up about the negative impacts of offshore drilling. However, climate legislation also remains a priority.

We need a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill now more than ever. Let the many representatives you helped elect know just how you feel about drilling, while reminding them we need them to step up for our environment, our economy and our future.

It need not be on an oil rig.