Yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberman said provisions to expand offshore oil and gas drilling will remain in a draft Senate climate and energy bill he has coauthored with Sens. John Kerry and Lindsey Graham. This is even as oil continues to gush unabated into the Gulf of Mexico from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, already hitting the shores of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Sen. Lieberman said of the Gulf spill, “I mean, accidents happen. You learn from them and you try to make sure they don’t happen again.” He said the draft bill would allow drilling as close as 75 miles from U.S. coastline. Rodger Schlickeisen, Former president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife responded to Lieberman’s comments, saying “America must move away from its reliance on dirty and dangerous fossil fuels and instead focus on developing clean, renewable energy sources, as any comprehensive climate and energy legislation should reflect.”

Read Rodger’s full statement.

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