U.S. Senate Candidate Maurice Ferre Sees Disastrous Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill as an Opportunity for U.S. to Embrace a Bold New Energy Policy

MIAMI, May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Florida Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Maurice Ferre, called on bipartisanship to resolve the U.S. energy crisis as reflected in one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the U.S. currently underway in the Gulf of Mexico. With 210,000 gallons of oil spewing daily into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and threatening the fragile Florida environment, there is no better moment to implement a bold new energy policy to better secure offshore oil drilling in the U.S. and our economic future, that depends on energy.

"The gulf oil spill is also an economic issue for Florida," said Ferre. "Florida's economy produces over $550 billion a year, $65 billion which comes directly from tourism, largely generated from Florida's 800 miles of beaches and recreational waters, the second largest coastline in the country. The BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill has now significantly jeopardized that industry. Not only have we potentially affected our pristine beaches, but we have impacted other economic areas dependent on the waters of the Gulf of Mexico; diving, commercial and sport fishing."

Ferre calls for a Six Point Plan:

1. Implement a plan to adopt electricity produced by natural gas and safe nuclear energy until renewable alternatives such as solar and wind become more viable.
2. Incentivize nationally solar independent homes and businesses, while promoting solar energy centers.
3. Raise fuel economy standards for automobile from 23 mpg to 35 mpg, to reduce national fuel consumption by significant margins.
4. Implement a plan for transportation fuel change from oil based to liquid natural gas and biofuels, until we have more advanced electric and hydrogen engines. Encourage new automobile technology: push for half of U.S. cars to be mostly hybrid-electric by 2020. Lead the global race to produce more advanced batteries for electric storage.
5. Support alternative forms of transportation. The transportation sector accounts for 75% of all petroleum use in the U.S. and is responsible for 42% of carbon emissions. Provide more incentives for high-speed rail, commuter rail, bus rapid-transit and car pooling.
6. Responsibly raise the liability cap for offshore oil drillers for economic losses. Promote safe oil and gas exploration without unreasonable government regulation.  Require well engineered contingency plans that can be implemented immediately in the case of equipment failure or human error.

The cleanup cost for this spill will likely be in the billions of dollars; more than all the potential lease income from oil drilling for the state of Florida for many years.

"We can learn from this incident, and use the momentum to implement a strong energy policy to push the U.S. into a new sustainable era. This creates an opportunity for BOLD, common sense, initiatives for our national energy policy. The time is NOW," Ferre asserts.

During the month of May, Maurice Ferre will post four in depth position papers, one a week until Aug. 1st.  Visit his website at www.ferre2010.com.

To learn more about Maurice Ferre, visit www.Ferre2010.com.

To contribute to Ferre2010, go to: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/ferre.

Follow Ferre2010: http://twitter.com/mauriceferre & http://www.facebook.com/ferre2010.

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SOURCE Ferre 2010 For U.S. Senate