WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In his speech on the Gulf oil catastrophe tonight, President Obama can give the nation not only a message of hope, but also a concrete plan to cut the nation’s oil dependence dramatically, said fourteen national, regional and local organizations said today.

“The nation’s dependence on petroleum need not be permanent. The road to freedom from oil imports has already been mapped. The President can start our nation on the journey tonight,” the organizations said in a joint statement. “We don’t need more analysis – it has already been done. With the President’s leadership we can start implementing the solution immediately.”

“This transition will produce millions of American jobs, recapture hundreds of billions of dollars that now go offshore, rather than being invested in America and American jobs, and most importantly, make America and the world more secure,” they said. The organizations represent a wide spectrum of corporate, environmental and public interests.

“We are in a crisis. It is time to face it head-on with all the tools we have. Deployment plans by the National Academies of Science and by various private organizations show the way. The key remaining ingredient is a national will. The good news is that the U.S. can virtually eliminate use of petroleum in our passenger cars by 2050 with the right combination of policies, research and assistance to commercialize a portfolio of vehicle and fuel technologies. Efficiency, biofuels, natural gas, battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles all will make a contribution,” they said.

“We must set aside notions about any one ‘winning’ technology and focus on results, beginning now and sticking with the program for the long term. The future of the oil economy looks even worse than today’s grim reality. With American engineering skill and with committed and focused leadership from our government, we can, and indeed we must, build a clean energy economy,” the organizations said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT THE FOLLOWING

Breakthrough Technologies Institute, Inc.

William Vincent

Bill@fuelcells.org

California Hydrogen Business Council

Karen Farrell

info@californiahydrogen.org

Clean Air Now

James J. Provenzano

jjpro@roadrunner.com

Coalition for Clean Air

Shankar B. Prasad

Shankar@coalitionforcleanair.org

Connecticut Hydrogen Fuel Cell Coalition

Electric Drive Transportation Association

Brian Wynne

bwynne@electricdrive.org

Energy Independence Now

Daniel Emmett

demmett@einow.org

Environmental and Energy Study Institute

Carol Werner

cwerner@eesi.org

National Hydrogen Association

Patrick Serfass

serfassp@hydrogenassociation.org

Natural Gas Vehicles for America

Richard Kolodziej

rkolodziej@ngvamerica.org

Renewable Fuels Association

Matt Hartwig

MHartwig@ethanolrfa.org

South Carolina Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Alliance

Shannon Baxter-Clemmons

baxterclemmons@schydrogen.org

Strategic, Energy, Environmental & Transportation Alternatives

Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta

vpcenergy@aol.com

U.S. Fuel Cell Council

Brynne Ward

brynne@usfcc.com