Kathy Sullivan had a great post on this over at Blue Hampshire, but I wanted to take a second and talk about Kelly Ayotte's statement this morning that taking drilling in New England "off the table" would be a "huge mistake."
It was unbelievable, especially as millions of gallons of oil continue to pollute Gulf waters and coastlines
On my visit to the Great Bay estuary yesterday I got a pretty incredible reminder of the incredible natural resources this state is blessed with. While I was there, I reaffirmed my support for the President's moratorium on offshore drilling, because I believe we must stop drilling until there are responsible, comprehensive safeguards in place to make sure we never put our environment, our workers and our local economies at that kind of risk.
I also made a promise yesterday--that I would never, ever vote to lift the ban on drilling off New England's coast. I believe the livelihood of our fishermen, success of our tourism industry, and the strength of our coastal communities are far too important to sacrifice.
I challenged my Republican opponents to make the same promise to the Granite State because for nearly 50 days we have seen firsthand the devastating effect drilling can have on our environment, our wildlife and our local communities.
But instead of making that promise, the only thing Kelly Ayotte told us she's actually open to bringing "spill baby spill" right to New Hampshire.
For me, the spill not only underscored the need for responsible, comprehensive safeguards before anymore drilling is done. It was also a serious reminder of something I know everyone reading this blog already knows: we cannot and will not wait to change the way we use and produce energy. We need to ramp up our clean energy efforts immediately not only to keep our workers, our environment and our local economies safe, but to create hundreds of thousands of well-paid, middle-class jobs across the country. I know how crucial this is to New Hampshire’s future, and as your US Senator, I will lead the fight for a comprehensive new energy policy.
Kelly’s comments today highlight exactly what's at stake in this election. We have to fight harder than ever, because there's too much we could lose if Kelly Ayotte wins. I’m going to need your help. Take some time to learn how you can get involved in the campaign, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and make sure that "drill baby drill" never becomes the law of the land.
Thank you so much for everything you do.
Cross-posted at Blue Hampshire.