New Ads Dramatize U.S. Energy Choices with Presidential Speeches from Eisenhower to Obama

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American Clean Skies Foundation, a Washington D.C. based non-profit, unveiled an imaginative educational ad campaign this week to underscore the historic potential of natural gas to provide greater energy security and jobs. The ads, to run on Bloomberg TV and in selected movie theaters, are timed for the summer driving season and call attention to the potential of natural gas to provide relief from rising oil prices.

“almost 100 year supply of natural gas.”

The ads showcase seven American presidents from the past 50 years responding to moments of crisis. Each ad asks two recurring questions: What if we didn’t listen? What if we ignored the challenge?

Several of the presidential speeches are related to the country’s dangerous dependency of foreign oil, and the ads end with President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union speech in which he underlined the alternative provided by expanded use of America’s “almost 100 year supply of natural gas.”

The ads can be viewed on YouTube, Bloomberg TV, and, this June, in selected Landmark Theaters in Houston, New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. They can also be viewed online at: http://www.whatifchallenge.org.

The companion web site provides background on the presidential speeches and details recent activities by the Foundation to reduce the country's dependence on oil imports. The background materials are nonpartisan, highlighting positions from both Republicans and Democrats, including President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney.

“The main point of the ads is to remind Americans that natural gas provides the country with an unprecedented new opportunity to improve our energy security. So we wanted to compare President Obama’s State of the Union commitment to natural gas to other historic calls to action by Democratic and Republican presidents alike,” commented Gregory C. Staple, ACSF’s CEO.

The Foundation’s educational ad initiative has a budget of approximately $350,000.

About the Foundation

The American Clean Skies Foundation was founded in 2007 to advance America’s energy independence and a cleaner, low-carbon environment through expanded use of natural gas, renewables and efficiency. The Foundation is a not-for-profit organization exempt from federal income taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Principal funding for the Foundation is provided by Chesapeake Energy Corporation.

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