Oil spill caused a change of thinking

To the Editor:

Until recently, I have never really recycled, I don't own a hybrid car, I really haven't cared much about the 'environment.' That all changed when I saw the tragic pictures of oil-drenched sea turtles and pelicans. The day I heard about the BP oil spill quite literally changed my life.

In 2009, the House of Representatives passed a climate change and clean energy bill. Since then, though, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have come up with several different proposals of their own in the Senate.

In the coming weeks, Senators will debate the fate of the available legislation, so the details of the Senate bill are still being crafted. Now is the time that we have to demand from our Senators that they pass a bill that tackles not just the climate change crisis, but also switching the United States over to an economy based on renewable energy.

The BP oil spill, while tragic, has been a wakeup call to millions of Americans. We've seen the horrors and the devastation that our addiction to oil has caused; now we have to do something about it. We have to repower America with clean, renewable energy.

Tyler Archer


Greencastle