The Environment

The Environment

We have a moral obligation to our children and to the future of our nation to protect our natural heritage. Clean energy alternatives create jobs while protecting our air and water from pollution. We have the technology, the will and the intelligence to balance California's and the nation's precious resources with the demands of a growing economy.

Taking care of our environment is part of taking care of ourselves. Nothing is more important to our health than clean air and pure water. These are not problems we face in some distant future or far off place. San Joaquin County, right here in District 11, has some of the worst air pollution in the country. As a result, our people suffer rates of respiratory illnesses - asthma, emphysema, etc. - that are off the charts. Our District also faces serious water problems - ground water contamination and shortages in a number of high growth areas. We have a levee system that is badly in need of repair. A major earthquake or flood could endanger the drinking water supply of millions of Californians and bring ruin to hundreds of thousands of farmers.

We have to be good stewards of our earth. It's just good common sense. Not just for our physical health, but for our quality of life as well. Imagine what life would be like in California without the parks and open spaces that preserve our natural wilderness for recreation and enjoyment. The better we treat nature, the more prosperous and healthy we will be.

The Good News

While we hear a lot of bad news these days - about the huge environmental challenges facing humanity - we hear less about the good news. The very science that tells us how human activity negatively impacts natural systems is now providing us with a vision of new technologies that can reverse the damage. In the past, environmental protections and economic development were often at odds. This no longer has to be the case.

My entire adult life has been dedicated to finding a way in which we can have economic growth that does not take place at the expense of the environment. I am an engineer in clean and alternative energy production and a small businessman in the new energy technology field, and I have a vision for District 11.

No place on the planet is better situated to develop technology that can help us move toward sustainable growth. In the field of clean and renewable energy production, District 11 is already a leading pioneer in wind power generation. We have a population of technicians and engineers who are forced to commute hours every day to far away jobs. We have a deep water port, interstate highways, railways and a large commercial airport. We have some of the most fertile agricultural lands in the world, perfect for bio-fuels, and we have all the sunshine necessary to nurture solar power development. All of the elements are here to place our area at the center of an economic re-tooling that can show America the way forward. Not only will this help us clean the air and free us from our dependency on oil, it will also bring new, high paying jobs to the Central Valley where they are desperately needed.

We need new leadership in Washington to make the change-over from our present fossil fuel based economy. Our current tax system and physical infrastructure were designed to encourage the growth of outmoded, wasteful, and environmentally destructive technologies. We can, indeed we must, change this. We have a tremendous opportunity. But we need political leaders with the will and vision to seize it. Richard Pombo is not one of those leaders.

There is no issue that separates me from Richard Pombo more than environmental policy. Pombo has consistently voted to weaken environmental protections, to open our most beautiful natural treasures to risky exploitation schemes (ANWR), and to continue our nation's dependency on fossil fuels. He has done nothing to address the problems that affect the citizens of District 11. Indeed, he opposed efforts to raise auto emission standards that would have helped clean our polluted air (HR6). His latest proposal to sell off national park and forestland to mining interests and real estate developers would deny public access to these natural reserves and cost the taxpayers billions in lost royalties. He sacrifices our nation's natural wealth for short-term private gains from which few benefit, that provide nothing for District 11, and which fail to produce the kind of economic growth that can lead our nation into the 21 st Century.

We have a moral obligation to our children and to the future of our nation to protect our natural heritage. The current leadership in Washington has turned its back on this vital responsibility, claiming we must ‘relax' environmental regulation to stimulate economic growth and create jobs. This is a false, shortsighted argument that plays on the insecurities of our citizens. It is leading us in the wrong direction.

America needs a different vision. I chose to stand up and run for Congress because I believe we have to turn this country around. Protecting our natural heritage is one of my most urgent concerns. I will fight to put our country on a path of sustainable economic growth; a path that will enable America to once again assume world technological leadership while meeting its obligation to provide environmental stewardship.

http://www.jerrymcnerney.org/issues/environment.asp