The Moral Obligation

The Moral Obligation

It is a core principle of my campaign for Governor to ensure the safeguarding of the environment.  Those who argue against the theory of climate change have been, and still are, ignoring the facts that are right in front of them.  The latest dramatic example of climate change is Hurricane Sandy, which devastated parts of the East Coast last week, and which is still causing misery for millions of our fellow citizens.

Hurricane Sandy was the second major hurricane to impact large parts of the East Coast in the last 14 months.  A year ago Hurricane Irene impacted many of the same areas as Sandy impacted last week, including New York.  During Irene, much of lower Manhattan and Staten Island were inundated with floodwaters. At the time, Irene was considered a storm that occurs every 100 years.  Now, just over a year later, we've had another hurricane hit New York, with greater ferocity and death and destruction than Irene.

This past spring we saw the mid-West raked by a series of F5 tornados, which destroyed multiple towns.  These tornados were also called one hundred year events.  The United States has recorded the warmest year on record since weather records started being kept in 1895.  That is 132 years ago.  Yet, we are told, by a significant minority of Americans, that climate change is not real and that these are just isolated events, just part of a normal weather pattern.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  These events keep occurring. They are not isolated in nature.  They will continue to increase in number and ferocity if we do not do something to end our dependence on fossil fuels.

The United States has 2% of the world's oil, and 25% of the world's population.  It is clear that even if we were to drill every last drop of oil on the continent of the United States it would not be sufficient to meet our energy needs.  There is no way on God's green earth (pun intended) that we are going to dig our way out of our energy addiction.  As long as we are dependent on fossil fuels in any great amount we will lack the political will to develop the green energy solutions that are technically available today, including the use of solar, wind, and bio-fuels.  The question before us is how many deaths and how much more destruction we are going to allow before we accept that we must change.

If we do not face reality, and if we do not have leaders who will help us face that reality, the seas will continue to rise, the planet will continue to warm, the ice caps will continue to melt, and the human race will ultimately cease to exist.  As a Christian, I feel I have a moral duty placed upon me by God, to be a good caretaker of the planet, and I believe that the vast majority of the American people feel the same way.  There is no reason why we cannot create a more sustainable planet and, by doing so, create economic prosperity at the same time.  My favorite quote, by a leader of vision, is that of John Kennedy who said in part  in his inaugural, that "here on earth God's work must truly be our own", and I believe that part of our work, and part of doing God's work, is to preserve the planet, not only for ourselves, but for future generations.

I am asking each Virginian, regardless of party or religious affiliation, to join my campaign to help us provide a more sustainable planet and to create economic prosperity.