Since 2004, the Apollo Alliance has called for investing in clean energy technology and sustainable infrastructure, reducing our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels, and developing millions of good jobs in a new clean energy economy. In the spirit of John F. Kennedy’s visionary program that put the first man on the moon, we are working to make America a global leader in clean energy products and services.

This week Republican Representative Marilyn Musgrave introduced an “Apollo program for the 21st Century” that looks like nothing we’d support, nor anything fit for this century other than her goal of achieving energy independence.

The proposed approach? More drilling. More refineries. More environmental damage. Representative Musgrave’s plan prolongs America’s oil dependence by relying on risky drilling ventures in the deep sea and in protected wildlife areas, and by building more oil refineries. 

You’ve heard us say it before. We’ll say it again. Rather than trying to literally go to the ends of the earth to develop the increasingly expensive, dwindling, and polluting resource of the 20th century, we should be investing in clean energy technologies.

The robust clean energy sector already is supporting hundreds of thousands of stable, family-supporting, green-collar jobs. A truly useful New Apollo Plan will enable that sector to scale up much more quickly, reduce energy costs, clear the air and water of pollutants, and give millions of Americans worthy, high-wage work they can be proud of. Our hope is that Congresswoman Musgrave will support policies that further the development of clean energy technologies and help create a vibrant and sustainable economy that will benefit all Americans, not just those in the oil industry. 

– Keith Schneider, Eva Barboni