We are at a crossroads in the course of American History. World markets are globalizing, energy prices are soaring, and skyrocketing healthcare cost are driving American jobs overseas. These are enormous challenges, but most Americans are not getting involved in solving these problems. This fact is not all that surprising because many people believe they cannot have a meaningful impact on these policies or feel that these issues are too difficult for us to solve.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In late spring of this year, gas prices were on the rise. Congress and the President were failing to address the issue, and both John McCain and Barack Obama were opposed to opening up new areas for domestic drilling. That's when American Solutions decided to launch the "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less." petition. Through your signature and your efforts domestic drilling became the most heavily debated political issue this summer. The success of this campaign came from you and nearly 1.5 million other petition signers because without your support our commonsense arguments would have likely fell upon deaf ears. It was your message to Congress that made the difference.
The timeline of events listed below show just how much of an impact your efforts made:
May 20 - American Solutions launches "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" petition
May 29 - 100,000 petition signatures
June 10 - 500,000 petition signatures
June 16 - Washington Post: "McCain Calls for End to Offshore Drilling Ban"
June 18 - Palm Beach Post: "Crist backs McCain on offshore drilling"
June 19 - 1,000,000 petition signatures
June 19 - New York Times: "Bush Calls for End to Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling"
July 14 - CNN: "Bush lifts executive ban on offshore oil drilling"
July 15 - American Solutions delivers 1.3 million signatures to House and Senate Leadership
July 26 - Senator McCain's weekly radio address: "As a matter of fairness to the American people, we need to drill more, drill now, and pay less at the pump."
July 31 - MoveOn.org Admits American Solutions is winning the energy debate: "Here's the truth: Right now, progressives are losing this argument."
August 1 - Associated Press: "Obama shifts, says he may back offshore drilling"
August 4 - ABC: "McCain: 'We Have to Drill Here and Drill Now'"
August 5 - Politico: "Pelosi: At-risk Dems back drilling"
August 14 - Denver Post: "Udall reverses opposition to offshore drilling"
August 16 - At Saddleback Forum, Senator McCain admits the most significant change in his public position in 10 years is offshore drilling.
August 25 - American Solutions delivers nearly 1.5 million signatures to Democratic National Convention
September 4 - American Solutions delivers nearly 1.5 million signatures to Republican National Convention
September 9 - Aaron Tippin's "Drill Here, Drill Now" single debuts on The Sean Hannity Show
While domestic drilling is an extremely important issue, we cannot stop there. This Solutions Day you will have the opportunity to learn about energy solutions and other critical issues as well as ways you can make a difference in your community. I hope you will be able to join us.
Hello, I am in England but what you are doing will affect us all here and from the botton of my heart I wish you success, your success will be our planetarian success. God Bless you brother, God bless us all.
Nanci England