From the OP article:
Here in the United States, the House of Representatives has passed a meaningful plan to move America in the same direction and reestablish our capacity to provide leadership in the world community on the most important issue facing the world today. The Senate, however, has struggled for the last 17 months to find enough votes to take up its own version of the same legislative plan. The unpleasant reality now spilling onto the shores of the Gulf Coast is creating public outrage and may also be generating a new opportunity to pass legislation, just as the oil spill 20 years ago from the Exxon Valdez created public momentum sufficient to overcome the anti-environment special interests. There is new hope that by the time the gusher from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is capped, so will carbon emissions from the burning of oil and coal.
It is understandable that the administration will be focused on the immediate crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. But this is a consciousness-shifting event. It is one of those clarifying moments that brings a rare opportunity to take the longer view. Unless we change our present course soon, the future of human civilization will be in dire jeopardy. Just as we feel a sense of urgency in demanding that this ongoing oil spill be stopped, we should feel an even greater sense of urgency in demanding that the much larger and more dangerous ongoing emissions of global warming pollution must also be stopped to make the world safe from the climate crisis that is building all around us.
Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States, is chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection.
Al Gore“New legislation to limit U.S. greenhouse gases and boost “clean energy” production will be released
May 12, Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman, the authors of the measure, said today.”
“Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said in an e-mailed statement they believe they can “secure the necessary votes to pass this legislation this year.””
We are on the road to passing the most important environmental legislation in a generation. That's why during the next few weeks I’ll be asking for your help to show the Senate that we demand they pass this vital legislation. This is our best opportunity to put America on the path to solving the climate crisis, and I know you’ll get the job done. But some of the largest and most influential environmental groups in the country said now is the time to "get serious about a comprehensive clean energy and climate policy that will reduce our oil dependence, enhance our security, revitalize our economy and protect our environment."
These groups said, "Every day the Senate fails to pass comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation we put our economy, our national security and our environment at greater risk. Americans overwhelmingly support action on clean energy and climate. Inaction is too costly, and the challenge is too urgent. The Gulf Coast oil catastrophe is yet another reminder that the United States must reduce its dependence on oil to protect our security, economy and environment."
This coalition of groups includes Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, the League of Conservation Voters, and Ceres, which represents investors who handle trillions of dollars and also: Audubon, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Climate Solutions, Defenders of Wildlife, Environment Northeast, Environment America, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Fresh Energy, Green For All, National Tribal Environmental Council, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, The Wilderness Society, Union of Concerned Scientists, and the World Wildlife Fund.
"The millions of Americans we represent demand a Senate vote on comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation," they said today. "President Obama and leaders of both parties in Congress must provide the leadership necessary to develop a clean energy and climate solution that becomes law this year."
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