Washington, D.C. — With U.S. oil and gas production at record levels and more than 37 million acres of public land currently leased to oil and gas companies for drilling, Western communities and policymakers are grappling with how to balance expanded energy production from public lands with its impacts on air quality, drinking water, wildlife, and public health and safety.
On Monday, June 17, at 3:30 p.m. EDT, John Podesta, Chair of the Center for American Progress, will host a press call to release new research on emerging public opinion trends on energy and conservation issues in the West. Geoff Garin, president of Hart Research Associates, will discuss the results of focus groups and polling the firm conducted in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada in April and May.
On the call, John Podesta and Melyssa Watson from The Wilderness Society will also announce the launch of a major new campaign that will highlighting the need for Congress and President Obama to strike a balance between oil and gas drilling on public lands and the protection of parks, wilderness, monuments, and our great outdoors for future generations. For years, presidents and Congresses of both parties have helped uphold this balance, yet the last Congress was the first since World War II to not protect a single new acre of public land as a national park, wilderness, or monument, and the Obama administration has leased far more public land to the oil and gas industry for drilling than it has protected for future generations.
WHO:
John Podesta, Chair, Center for American Progress
Geoff Garin, President, Hart Research Associates
Melyssa Watson, Vice President for Conservation, The Wilderness Society
WHEN:
Monday, June 17, 2013, 3:30 p.m. EDT/1:30 p.m. MDT
CALL-IN NUMBER:
877.210.8943
Conference ID # 95464608
RSVP
Please confirm your attendance by emailing Anne Shoup at [email protected].
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