Demand No More Coal, No More Oil This Independence Day

No surprise here, on the heels of President Obama's Tuesday night speech, the coal industry front group -- American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity -- released a statement saying they agree with his call for a clean energy future:

The president also renewed his call for bolder action to create a clean energy future. We share the president's commitment, and recognize the steps we take as a nation must balance America's environmental, economic, and energy goals.

As we said in a post a few weeks ago, the coal industry is working harder to convince you that to address our oil problem, we should mine and burn more coal.

Wrong. 19th century energy sources have no place in a clean-energy economy. Coal belongs in the same category as oil -- dirty and dangerous energy sources we must phase out as soon as possible.

The president got it right when he said "the millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic." We must restore the Gulf and push President Obama to put the weight of his office behind treating the cause of the epidemic, our reliance on oil. We must end our dependence on oil and coal.

So leading up to July 4th, we want you to join us for one the largest visual displays in Sierra Club's history as we call for Freedom From Oil this Independence Day.

Head to our Beyond Oil website to plant a flag and demand our freedom from our oil addiction and a commitment to a clean-energy economy.

Plant a 'virtual flag' on our website and, if we get 50,000 people to do so, we'll recreate the scene in real life in front of the Washington Monument right before July 4th where Congress and the White House are sure to notice.

If we don't want to repeat the BP oil disaster, we must do better than using coal and oil to power our country. Let's stand up to these powerful interests and build a clean energy future.